verb
-
to spend; disburse
-
to consume or use up
Related Words
See spend.
Other Word Forms
- expender noun
- overexpend verb
- preexpend verb (used with object)
- unexpended adjective
- well-expended adjective
Etymology
Origin of expend
1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin expendere “to weigh out, lay out, pay”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And — perhaps most importantly — how much energy do you actually have to expend?
From Salon • Jan. 29, 2026
Privately funded science can be controversial, but OceanX notes that its research is all publicly accessible, and it partners with government and institutions often unable to expend their limited resources on marine science.
From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026
Like anyone who runs cold, I expend a good deal of energy avoiding it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
"I would like to take a moment and expend our deepest condolences to people who lost loved ones in this tragedy," she said.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 2025
People wanted to think you were so okay with it all so they wouldn’t have to expend any energy feeling guilty.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
