expend

[ik-spend]

verb (used with object)

1. to use up.

   She expended energy, time, and care on her work.

   Synonyms: empty, consume

2. to pay out; disburse; spend.

expend

/ ɪkˈspɛnd /

verb

1. to spend; disburse

2. to consume or use up

Other Word Forms

• expender noun
• overexpend verb
• preexpend verb (used with object)
• unexpended adjective
• well-expended adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of expend¹

1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin expendere “to weigh out, lay out, pay”

Word History and Origins

Origin of expend¹

C15: from Latin expendere, from pendere to weigh

Synonym Study

See spend.

Example Sentences

Would Starmer even want to get involved and expend his own political capital with the US president?

Read more on BBC

Like anyone who runs cold, I expend a good deal of energy avoiding it.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Zelensky and his generals have faced criticism in the past for waiting too long to withdraw from politically significant positions and expending Ukrainian soldiers’ lives with the delay.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Smith’s sales also come amid a marketwide about-face on AI, fueled by concerns that hyperscalers—the owners of massive data centers—are expending too much capital in exchange for little, if any, return.

Read more on Barron's

And when the other one isn’t looking, each seems to power down — Lawrence’s Grace physically collapsing like an unplugged air dancer — a clue of how much energy they must privately expend to make it work.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ante up 
• consume 
• disburse 
• dispense 
• dissipate 
• put out 
• use up