spend

American  

[spend] / spɛnd /

verb (used with object)

spent, spending

1. to pay out, disburse, or expend; dispose of (money, wealth, resources, etc.).

   resisting the temptation to spend one's money.

   Antonyms:

   keep, earn

2. to employ (labor, thought, words, time, etc.), as on some object or in some proceeding.

   Don't spend much time on it.

   Synonyms:

   devote, apply, use

3. to pass (time) in a particular manner, place, etc..

   We spent a few days in Baltimore.

4. to use up, consume, or exhaust.

   The storm had spent its fury.

5. to give (one's blood, life, etc.) for some cause.

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verb (used without object)

spent, spending

1. to spend money, energy, time, etc.

2. Obsolete. to be consumed or exhausted.

spend British  

/ spɛnd /

verb

1. to pay out (money, wealth, etc)

2. (tr) to concentrate (time, effort, thought, etc) upon an object, activity, etc

3. (tr) to pass (time) in a specific way, activity, place, etc

4. (tr) to use up completely

   the hurricane spent its force

5. (tr) to give up (one's blood, life, etc) in a cause

6. obsolete (intr) to be used up or exhausted

7. informal to urinate

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noun

1. an amount of money spent, esp regularly, or allocated to be spent

spend Idioms  

1. see pocket (spending) money.

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Related Words

Spend, disburse, expend, squander refer to paying out money. Spend is the general word: We spend more for living expenses now. Disburse implies expending from a specific source or sum to meet specific obligations, or paying in definite allotments: The treasurer has authority to disburse funds. Expend is more formal, and implies spending for some definite and (usually) sensible or worthy object: to expend most of one's salary on necessities. Squander suggests lavish, wasteful, or foolish expenditure: to squander a legacy.

Other Word Forms

• antispending adjective
• spendable adjective
• underspend verb
• unspending adjective

Etymology

Origin of spend

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English spenden, continuing Old English -spendan (in āspendan, forspendan “to spend entirely or utterly”), from West Germanic, from Latin expendere “to pay out, spend, expend” ( expend ); compare German spenden

Example Sentences

"They spend a lot of money on it. People also give what they can. We need to help. I'm not complaining."

From BBC

After spending a week and a half sailing halfway across the far southern Pacific, tossed between 20-foot waves and crippling bouts of seasickness, Chris Brown reached his destination.

From The Wall Street Journal

American retirees normally spend the day walking the boardwalk or enjoying the cafes and restaurants in the Zona Romantica.

From The Wall Street Journal

But what's driving this spending at a time when India's job market has been weak, wages haven't really grown rapidly and overall private consumption, which makes up 60% of GDP, has remained patchy?

From BBC

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, she said ministers would not be withdrawing "effective support", and stressed that the government would be "spending more money", not less, on providing for children with SEND.

From BBC

Related Words

• allocate
• concentrate
• consume
• contribute
• donate
• drop
• employ
• expend
• give
• invest
• put in
• settle
• use
• waste