Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

spend

[spend]
verb (used with object), spent, spend·ing.
  1. to pay out, disburse, or expend; dispose of (money, wealth, resources, etc.): resisting the temptation to spend one's money.
  2. to employ (labor, thought, words, time, etc.), as on some object or in some proceeding: Don't spend much time on it.
  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.
Show More
verb (used without object), spent, spend·ing.
  1. to spend money, energy, time, etc.
  2. Obsolete. to be consumed or exhausted.
Show More

Origin of spend

1125–75; Middle English spenden, continuing Old English -spendan (in āspendan, forspendan to spend entirely or utterly) < West Germanic < Latin expendere to pay out, expend; compare German spenden
Related formsan·ti·spend·ing, adjectiveun·der·spend, verb, un·der·spent, un·der·spend·ing.un·spend·ing, adjective

Synonyms

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. 2. use, apply, devote.

Antonyms

1. earn, keep.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for underspend

underspend

verb -spends, -spending or -spent
  1. to spend less than (one can afford or is allocated)
Show More
noun (ˈʌndəˌspɛnd)
  1. the amount by which someone or something is underspent
Show More

spend

verb spends, spending or spent
  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 completelythe hurricane spent its force
  5. (tr) to give up (one's blood, life, etc) in a cause
  6. (intr) obsolete to be used up or exhausted
  7. spend a penny British informal to urinate
Show More
noun
  1. an amount of money spent, esp regularly, or allocated to be spent
Show More
See also spends
Derived Formsspendable, adjective

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for underspend

spend

v.

"to pay out or away" (money or wealth), Old English -spendan (in forspendan "use up"), from Latin expendere "to weigh out money, pay down" (see expend). A general Germanic borrowing (cf. Old High German spendon, German and Middle Dutch spenden, Old Norse spenna). In reference to labor, thoughts, time, etc., attested from c.1300.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with underspend

spend

see pocket (spending) money.

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