noun
-
something expended, such as time or money
-
the act of expending
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of expenditure
1760–70; < Medieval Latin expendit ( us ) laid out, paid (variant of expēnsus, past participle of expendere; see expend) + -ure
Explanation
In a trip budget, you need to add up all your expenditures, such as hotel, car rental and food costs against the money you have brought to spend. An expenditure is money spent on something. Expenditure is often used when people are talking about budgets. It is the government's job to decide what to do with tax money collected, or in other words, to determine the expenditure of public funds. The word is more than a long way of saying expense. In business, an expenditure implies an investment, something that will bring value over time.
Vocabulary lists containing expenditure
100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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Theodore Roosevelt on "New Nationalism" (1910)
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Economics
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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.
It had also helped people save £64,468 in annual reductions in bills and expenditure.
From BBC • Jun. 18, 2026
Overall, the guidance was slightly negative from an estimate revisions standpoint, mainly due to capital expenditure coming in slightly higher than expected.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
To execute on OCI’s growth, Oracle had to put its $32 billion in operating cash flow last year, plus another $24 billion, into capital expenditure.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
The earnings upgrade is partly offset by higher capital expenditure and an elevated 39.1% effective tax rate, the analyst adds.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
He said he would not, at present, allow for expenditure on any dresses of fine stuffs, but rather recommended she brood on worsted and prunella twill.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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.
