spend definition | Dictionary.com

spend

[spend]

,verb, spent, spend⋅ing.

–verb (used with object)

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.

–verb (used without object)

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

7.	Obsolete. to be consumed or exhausted.

Origin:
1125–75; ME spenden, continuing OE -spendan (in āspendan, forspendan to spend entirely or utterly) < WGmc < L expendere to pay out, expend; cf. G spenden

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 Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To spend

spend (spěnd)

v. spent (spěnt), spend·ing, spends

v. tr.

To use up or put out; expend: spent an hour exercising.
To pay out (money).
To wear out; exhaust: The storm finally spent itself.
To pass (time) in a specified manner or place: spent their vacation in Paris.
1. To throw away; squander: spent all their resources on futile projects.
2. To give up (one's time or efforts, for example) to a cause; sacrifice.

v. intr.

To pay out or expend money.
To be exhausted or consumed.

[Middle English spenden, partly from Old English -spendan (from Latin expendēre, to expend; see expend) and partly from Old French despendre, to weigh out; see dispense.]
spend'a·ble adj., spend'er n.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to pay or give out money or an equivalent: spent eight dollars for a movie ticket; disbursed funds from the account; expended all her energy teaching the class.
Antonym: save¹

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Spend

Spend\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spent; p. pr. & vb. n. Spending.] [AS. spendan (in comp.), fr. L. expendere or dispendere to weigh out, to expend, dispense. See Pendant, and cf. Dispend, Expend, Spence, Spencer.]

1. To weigh or lay out; to dispose of; to part with; as, to spend money for clothing.

Spend thou that in the town. --Shak.

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? --Isa. lv. 2.

2. To bestow; to employ; -- often with on or upon.

I . . . am never loath To spend my judgment. --Herbert.

3. To consume; to waste; to squander; to exhaust; as, to spend an estate in gaming or other vices.

4. To pass, as time; to suffer to pass away; as, to spend a day idly; to spend winter abroad.

We spend our years as a tale that is told. --Ps. xc. 9.

5. To exhaust of force or strength; to waste; to wear away; as, the violence of the waves was spent.

Their bodies spent with long labor and thirst. --Knolles.

Spend

Spend\, v. i. 1. To expend money or any other possession; to consume, use, waste, or part with, anything; as, he who gets easily spends freely.

He spends as a person who knows that he must come to a reckoning. --South.

2. To waste or wear away; to be consumed; to lose force or strength; to vanish; as, energy spends in the using of it.

The sound spendeth and is dissipated in the open air. --Bacon.

3. To be diffused; to spread.

The vines that they use for wine are so often cut, that their sap spendeth into the grapes. --Bacon.

4. (Mining) To break ground; to continue working.

Language Translation for : spend

Spanish: gastar,

German: ausgeben,

Japanese: 使う

More Translations »

spend

"to pay out or away" (money or wealth), O.E. -spendan (in forspendan "use up"), from L. expendere "to weigh out money, pay down" (see expend). A general Gmc. borrowing (cf. O.H.G. spendon, Ger., M.Du. spenden, O.N. spenna). In ref. to labor, thoughts, time, etc., attested from c.1300.

spend

see pocket (spending) money.

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