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

Gallagher's office said the authorization allows Congress to appropriate funds and the Corps to separately expend funds. — Lyanne Wang, CBS News, 2 July 2026

During the latest Iran war, America expended more air defense interceptors defending Israel than Israel itself did. — Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

One of those blew up on its landing attempt while another was purposefully expended to get its payload to a higher orbital insertion. — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2026

Their role was not necessarily to destroy the air-defense system outright but to saturate it, forcing it to expend its interceptor missiles before the cruise missiles arrived. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 26 June 2026

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