défrayer

Formally, to defray someone's expenses (l'entreprise défraie ses employés en déplacement). But by far the most common use is the fixed expression défrayer la chronique — to be the talk of the town, to make headlines, usually for something scandalous.

• L'entreprise défraie les frais de déplacement. — The company covers travel expenses.
• Cette affaire a défrayé la chronique pendant des mois. — This scandal was the talk of the town for months.
• Le scandale continue de défrayer la chronique. — The scandal keeps making headlines.

Outside the fixed idiom défrayer la chronique, learners rarely need this verb at all — don't try to build new phrases with it the way you would with payer or couvrir les frais.

• expression Défrayer la chronique — A long-established French idiom, still current in journalism today, meaning to be the constant subject of gossip or news coverage — historically tied to 17th-century 'chronique' columns reporting society news and scandal.