spend

[ spend ]
See synonyms for: spendspendingspent on Thesaurus.com

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.

  2. to employ (labor, thought, words, time, etc.), as on some object or in some proceeding: Don't spend much time on it.

  1. to pass (time) in a particular manner, place, etc.: We spent a few days in Baltimore.

  2. to use up, consume, or exhaust: The storm had spent its fury.

  3. 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.

Origin of spend

1
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” (see expend); compare German spenden

synonym study For spend

1. 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.

Other words for spend

Opposites for spend

Other words from spend

  • an·ti·spend·ing, adjective
  • un·der·spend, verb, un·der·spent, un·der·spend·ing.
  • un·spend·ing, adjective

Words Nearby spend

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use spend in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for spend

spend

/ (spɛnd) /


verbspends, spending or spent
  1. to pay out (money, wealth, etc)

  2. (tr) to concentrate (time, effort, thought, etc) upon an object, activity, etc

  1. (tr) to pass (time) in a specific way, activity, place, etc

  2. (tr) to use up completely: the hurricane spent its force

  3. (tr) to give up (one's blood, life, etc) in a cause

  4. (intr) obsolete to be used up or exhausted

  5. spend a penny British informal to urinate

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

Origin of spend

1
Old English spendan, from Latin expendere; influenced also by Old French despendre to spend, from Latin dispendere; see expend, dispense

Derived forms of spend

  • spendable, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with spend

spend

see pocket (spending) money.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.