spend

[ spend ]

verb (used with object)

, spent, spend·ing.

1. to pay out, disburse, or expend; dispose of (money, wealth, resources, etc.):

   resisting the temptation to spend one's money.

   Antonyms: keep, earn

2. to employ (labor, thought, words, time, etc.), as on some object or in some proceeding:

   Don't spend much time on it.

   Synonyms: devote, apply, use

3. to pass (time) in a particular manner, place, etc.:

   We spent a few days in Baltimore.

4. to use up, consume, or exhaust:

   The storm had spent its fury.

5. to give (one's blood, life, etc.) for some cause.

verb (used without object)

, spent, spend·ing.

1. to spend money, energy, time, etc.
2. Obsolete. to be consumed or exhausted.

spend

/ spɛnd /

verb

1. to pay out (money, wealth, etc)
2. tr to concentrate (time, effort, thought, etc) upon an object, activity, etc
3. tr to pass (time) in a specific way, activity, place, etc
4. tr to use up completely

   the hurricane spent its force

5. tr to give up (one's blood, life, etc) in a cause
6. obsolete.
   intr to be used up or exhausted
7. spend a penny informal.
   spend a penny to urinate

noun

1. an amount of money spent, esp regularly, or allocated to be spent

Derived Forms

• ˈspendable, adjective

Other Words From

• anti·spending adjective
• under·spend verb underspent underspending
• un·spending adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of spend¹

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English spenden, continuing Old English -spendan (in āspendan, forspendan “to spend entirely or utterly”), from West Germanic, from Latin expendere “to pay out, spend, expend” ( expend ); compare German spenden

Word History and Origins

Origin of spend¹

Old English spendan, from Latin expendere; influenced also by Old French despendre to spend, from Latin dispendere; see expend , dispense

Idioms and Phrases

see pocket (spending) money .

Synonym Study

Spend, disburse, expend, squander refer to paying out money. Spend is the general word: We spend more for living expenses now. Disburse implies expending from a specific source or sum to meet specific obligations, or paying in definite allotments: The treasurer has authority to disburse funds. Expend is more formal, and implies spending for some definite and (usually) sensible or worthy object: to expend most of one's salary on necessities. Squander suggests lavish, wasteful, or foolish expenditure: to squander a legacy.

Example Sentences

Luckily for him, he found Sairam Palicherla, a scientist who has spent more than two decades studying farming.

From TechCrunch

Last week, she spent hours on the phone with colleagues to check on the status of their intensive care units.

From Vox

I’ve written before about how billionaire philanthropists can spend their money to fight climate change.

From Vox

I was tired of spending my evenings trying to understand the next day.

From Eater

American spent an estimated $9 billion on the holiday in 2018, according to Vox.

From Quartz

Speech, in this case, is our ability to spend money on a goofy entertainment.

From The Daily Beast

Earlier this week, Huckabee ended his Fox News talk show so he could spend time mulling another bid for the Republican nomination.

From The Daily Beast

Prosecutors wanted him to spend at least 10 years behind bars.

From The Daily Beast

He is expected to spend the next few days closeted with lawyers and advisers at his home, Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, I spend much of my time criticizing my fellow atheists.

From The Daily Beast

It's a certainty that they will be captured if they spend that money at any trading-post within our jurisdiction.

From Project Gutenberg

He told her he would probably spend the next day in bed for a thorough rest, and she agreed that that would be a very good idea.

From Project Gutenberg

This is a big country, but you can count on the fingers of one hand the places where a man can spend money.

From Project Gutenberg

Also, some ominous comments on what armies spend and what Governments scrimp:—that is ammunition.

From Project Gutenberg

In order not to weary your Majesty, I shall not dwell longer upon this, or spend time setting forth our losses.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• allocate
• concentrate
• consume
• contribute
• donate
• drop
• employ
• expend
• give
• invest
• put in
• settle
• use
• waste