SPEND Definition & Meaning

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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 51�Թ� Forms

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

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51�Թ� 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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51�Թ� 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.

Hundreds of arm's length public bodies are to be reviewed in a bid to cut spending and give ministers more decision-making powers.

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“You have to believe that Nikki is a person you would want to die with, that would be the most enjoyable, pleasurable person to spend the rest of your time with,” Rosenstock added.

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Today’s congressional gridlock and partisanship make it rare for a bipartisan group of 60 senators to agree to anything, let alone a spending bill.

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It added the insolvency caused it to lose £5.5m and that Keith's personal spending was draining the company of money.

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At the same time, entertainment companies have slashed spending on productions even as many have taken advantage of lucrative tax incentives offered outside of California.

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

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