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

That’s the first analytical step they take, and again, they spend most of the opinion on that.

From Slate • Apr. 9, 2026

After a postpandemic boom—when locked-down consumers emerged with savings to spend on handbags and heels—growth slowed in 2023.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

“The goal is to spend more on cultural infrastructure, especially when it includes art.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Meta may spend up to $135 billion on capex this year, and the company hired a banker with extensive international experience, Dina Powell McCormack, as its president.

From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026

Then, “Well, not right now. Because I had to spend the weekend with my dad.”

From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold

Related Words

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