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spend

[ spend ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

spent, spending.

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

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

spend

/ ��ɛ�Ի� /

verb

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
obsolete.
intr to be used up or exhausted
spend a penny informal.
to urinate

noun

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

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Derived Forms

ˈ��Ի岹��, adjective

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Other Word Forms

��t��·��Ի�i�Բ� adjective
�ܲ�d��·��Ի� verb underspent underspending
�ܲ�·��Ի�i�Բ� adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of spend¹

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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of spend¹

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

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Idioms and Phrases

see pocket (spending) money .

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Synonym Study

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.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Mr Niccol was brought into Starbucks last year tasked with turning the business around as it struggles with rising prices and consumers cut back spending.

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With a housing crisis, increasing job insecurity and an ageing population, Chinese people are simply not spending as much as their government would like.

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"We are very worried about their spending review," she added, in an unusually strong plea from the Committee.

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Sian McEvoy, 41, spends a few days a week volunteering at a community farm near her home in Swansea, which provides opportunities for adults and young people who face mental health challenges.

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President Trump’s first 100 days in his second term have been a blitz of executive orders, job and spending cuts, and global tariffs, in pursuit of expanded presidential power.

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Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Spencerian spendable

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