spend

[ spend ]

See synonyms for: spend spending spent on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),spent, spend·ing.

to pay out, disburse, or expend; dispose of (money, wealth, resources, etc.): resisting the temptation to spend one's money.
to employ (labor, thought, words, time, etc.), as on some object or in some proceeding: Don't spend much time on it.

to pass (time) in a particular manner, place, etc.: We spent a few days in Baltimore.
to use up, consume, or exhaust: The storm had spent its fury.
to give (one's blood, life, etc.) for some cause.

verb (used without object),spent, spend·ing.

to spend money, energy, time, etc.
Obsolete. to be consumed or exhausted.

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” (see expend); compare German spenden

synonym study For spend

1. 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 words for spend

2	use, apply, devote

See synonyms for spend on Thesaurus.com

Opposites for spend

1	earn, keep

See antonyms for spend on Thesaurus.com

Other words from spend

an·ti·spend·ing, adjective
un·der·spend, verb, un·der·spent, un·der·spend·ing.
un·spend·ing, adjective

Words Nearby spend

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use spend in a sentence

Luckily for him, he found Sairam Palicherla, a scientist who has spent more than two decades studying farming.
UrbanKisaan is betting on vertical farming to bring pesticide-free vegetables to consumers and fight India’s water crisis | Manish Singh | September 17, 2020 | TechCrunch
Last week, she spent hours on the phone with colleagues to check on the status of their intensive care units.
The new Covid-19 case surge in Europe, explained | Julia Belluz | September 17, 2020 | Vox
I’ve written before about how billionaire philanthropists can spend their money to fight climate change.
Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money. | Sigal Samuel | September 17, 2020 | Vox
I was tired of spending my evenings trying to understand the next day.
Christian Puglisi Is Closing His Influential Copenhagen Restaurants. COVID Is Only Partly to Blame | Rafael Tonon | September 17, 2020 | Eater
American spent an estimated $9 billion on the holiday in 2018, according to Vox.
Zoom parties, throwing candy: How Halloween might happen during Covid-19 | Alexandra Ossola | September 17, 2020 | Quartz

Speech, in this case, is our ability to spend money on a goofy entertainment.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead | Luke O’Neil | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Earlier this week, Huckabee ended his Fox News talk show so he could spend time mulling another bid for the Republican nomination.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner! | Olivia Nuzzi | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Prosecutors wanted him to spend at least 10 years behind bars.
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv | Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
He is expected to spend the next few days closeted with lawyers and advisers at his home, Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park.
From Playboy Prince to Dirty Old Man? | Tom Sykes | January 5, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Instead, I spend much of my time criticizing my fellow atheists.
The Case Against In-Your-Face Atheism | Steve Neumann | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
It's a certainty that they will be captured if they spend that money at any trading-post within our jurisdiction.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
He told her he would probably spend the next day in bed for a thorough rest, and she agreed that that would be a very good idea.
Uncanny Tales | Various
This is a big country, but you can count on the fingers of one hand the places where a man can spend money.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
Also, some ominous comments on what armies spend and what Governments scrimp:—that is ammunition.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian Hamilton
In order not to weary your Majesty, I shall not dwell longer upon this, or spend time setting forth our losses.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for spend

spend

/ (spɛnd) /

verbspends, spending or spent

to pay out (money, wealth, etc)
(tr) to concentrate (time, effort, thought, etc) upon an object, activity, etc

(tr) to pass (time) in a specific way, activity, place, etc
(tr) to use up completely: the hurricane spent its force
(tr) to give up (one's blood, life, etc) in a cause
(intr) obsolete to be used up or exhausted
spend a penny British informal to urinate

noun

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

Origin of spend

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

See also spends

Derived forms of spend

spendable, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with spend

spend

see pocket (spending) money.

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