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spend

[ spend ]
/ spɛnd /
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See synonyms for: spend / spending / spent on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), spent, spend·ing.
verb (used without object), spent, spend·ing.
to spend money, energy, time, etc.
Obsolete. to be consumed or exhausted.
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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 FROM spend

an·ti·spend·ing, adjectiveun·der·spend, verb, un·der·spent, un·der·spend·ing.un·spend·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use spend in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for spend

spend
/ (spɛnd) /

verb spends, spending or spent
noun
an amount of money spent, esp regularly, or allocated to be spent
See also spends

Derived forms of spend

spendable, adjective

Word Origin for spend

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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