verb
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to spend; disburse
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to consume or use up
Synonym Usage
See spend.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overexpendverb
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unexpendedadjective
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expendernoun
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preexpendverb (used with object)
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well-expendedadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have expendedperfect
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has expendedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been expendingperfect progressive
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is expendingprogressive 3rd person singular
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expendssingular 3rd person
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has been expendingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am expendingprogressive 1st person singular
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are expendingprogressive
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expendingparticiple
Past
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had expendedperfect
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was expendingprogressive singular
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had been expendingperfect progressive
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expendedparticiple
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expendedsimple
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were expendingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of expend
1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin expendere “to weigh out, lay out, pay”
Explanation
The verb expend means to use. If you expend all your energy raking the leaves, you may be too tired to play hockey afterwards. Better pace yourself — you'll never get all of the leaves on the ground, after all. The verb expend means to spend or pay out. You can expend money, but you can also expend things like good will and time. As a voter, you can vote for or against the city's plan to expend money on a new library building, but the city may be expending voter willingness to support the plan if the building goes over the budget. There is no point in building a library if they can't afford to buy books!
Vocabulary lists containing expend
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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pend, pens, List 1
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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.
