expend

verb

ex·​pend ik-ˈspend 

expended; expending; expends

transitive verb

1

: to pay out : spend

… the social services upon which public revenue is expended.

—J. A. Hobson

2

: to make use of for a specific purpose : utilize

projects on which they expended great energy

also : use up

expender noun

Synonyms of expend

• spend
• pay

Examples of expend in a Sentence

Are we willing to expend the time and resources required to solve the problem?

redecoration will have to wait, since we've just expended our last dollar in buying the house

Recent Examples on the Web

People who, pre-AI, would not have expended the energy required to commit fraud can now easily enter a few phrases into an image- or video-generation software to generate a fraudulent image or document. —Jared Perlo, NBC news, 25 Nov. 2025

Why did Neolithic peoples expend so much energy on undertakings of this kind? —Alex Ross, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025

When the workload is greater than usual, your body temporarily expends more energy to fuel the digestive process, both in breaking down macronutrients and in absorbing that fuel for use later. —Bryn Beeder, The Conversation, 17 Nov. 2025

Venezuela’s strategic alliances with Russia and China have weakened, with Moscow tied down militarily in Ukraine and Beijing showing less willingness to expend political capital in Latin America. —Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English expenden, exspenden, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French espendre, expendre, borrowed from Latin expendere "to weigh, pay out, disburse," from ex- ex- entry 1 + pendere "to weigh, have a weight of, pay (out), estimate, consider" — more at pendent

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for expend

• amend
• append
• ascend
• attend
• backend
• befriend
• boyfriend
• commend
• compend
• contend
• defend
• depend

Kids Definition

expend

verb

ex·​pend ik-ˈspend 

1

: to pay out : spend

expend state funds

2

: use up

expend energy