spend

[spend]

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.

verb (used without object)

spent, spending 

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

2. Obsolete.,  to be consumed or exhausted.

spend

/ 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

noun

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of spend¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of spend¹

Old English spendan, from Latin expendere; influenced also by Old French despendre to spend, from Latin dispendere; see _expend , _dispense

Idioms and Phrases

see pocket (spending) money.

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

Somewhere in between is where intelligent viewers want to spend most of their time, searching for the experience they would have gotten, years ago, watching a solidly constructed, thought-provoking movie at their local multiplex.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

And with the transfer portal, an athlete can spend his years as a “student” playing for a different college each year.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Winning teams have the fundamentals locked in, which allows coaches to spend time on everything else.

Read more on BBC

Wall Street is concerned about a possible AI bubble as businesses spend big on AI, but aren’t yet seeing a major return on those investments.

Read more on Barron's

Consumers are prioritizing value and essentials, with spending in food, beauty, and essentials remaining strong.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

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