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

The companies cited uncompetitive drug-pricing controls that mean Britain spends far less on medicines than its peers.

From The Wall Street Journal

“I’d look out for the coexistence of debt and spending patterns,” she says.

From MarketWatch

The United States on Monday exempted British pharmaceuticals from import tariffs under a unique deal which sees the UK increase spending on American drugs by 25 percent.

From Barron's

They have estimated spending $8 billion on the project, which would include a hotel and concert venue and connect with the future site of New York City Football Club’s stadium.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Office for Budget Responsibility had planned to release its assessment of announcements on tax and spending after treasury chief Rachel Reeves had presented them to lawmakers Wednesday, in line with convention.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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