spend

[spend]

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.

verb (used without object)

spent, spending 

1. to spend money, energy, time, etc.

2. Obsolete.,  to be consumed or exhausted.

spend

/ 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

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• antispending adjective
• underspend verb
• unspending adjective
• spendable adjective

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

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

Idioms and Phrases

see pocket (spending) money.

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.

Example Sentences

State TV in Vladimir spun the shutdown as "digital detox", showing residents who said they now enjoyed more walking, reading and spending time with friends.

From BBC

Hey, who spends hours figuring out how to prepare his Scout troop for their adventures, said he couldn’t have designed “a better scenario to make the training very visceral and real.”

From Los Angeles Times

The salary cap limits what teams can spend on player payroll.

From Los Angeles Times

The main characters’ bond over loss coils around a secret that burdens Dennis, a gay man fascinated with twinship, the more time they spend together.

From Los Angeles Times

She said the party would not spend money on planting trees in Uganda or "foreign offices" - which the Welsh government has a network of.

From BBC

Related Words

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