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.
That would be a July 4 fireworks display compared with what U.S. forces would expend in a Pacific confrontation.
Cartridge casings recovered near the Utah crime scene were matched through a federal database to an expended casing previously found during a search of Buzzard’s home in Vandenberg Village.
From Los Angeles Times
Because I wasn’t expending any energy trying to reach for something.
From Los Angeles Times
But how many hours of BBC time will have to be expended to fight the case?
From BBC
"It became encouraging to expend more effort," Dr. Jachim says, "because we could tell it was a project that was going to succeed."
From Science Daily
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.
