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.
See Examples For:
The nation raised its military expenditure by 9.7 percent to $62.2 billion in 2025 -- equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP, its highest share since 1958.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
FGF21 can raise energy expenditure, improve blood sugar regulation, and reduce inflammation.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
The mayor was also heavily favored by independent expenditure groups, which are required to be unafilliated with the campaigns, that spent more than $2.5 million in support of Bass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Sony aims to limit capital expenditure with the move as it prepares for greater demand for “eyes” for machines in the age of artificial intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
They discounted the boy’s protests for their impracticality and sought to rationalize expenditure.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
The company said very low major-loss expenditures in property-casualty reinsurance and a strong investment performance boosted its earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
SpaceX booked second-quarter capital expenditures of more than $18 billion, or nearly 40% higher than analysts had modeled.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Novo’s capital expenditures skyrocketed by 664% in three years to about $6.5 billion in 2024, regulatory filings show, not including the $11 billion acquisition of Catalent’s manufacturing facilities.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Its capital expenditures hit $18.4 billion for the quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Such pleas, inevitably, were ignored, and members of Congress would gather in wood-paneled committee rooms and spend hours examining in minute detail the Osage’s expenditures, as if the country’s security were at stake.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
