expenditure

noun

ex·​pen·​di·​ture ik-ˈspen-di-chər 

-də-ˌchu̇r, 

-də-ˌt(y)u̇r

1

: the act or process of expending

an expenditure of energy

2

: something expended : disbursement, expense

Your income should exceed your expenditures.

Synonyms of expenditure

• expense
• cost

Examples of expenditure in a Sentence

an increase in military expenditures

an increase in military expenditure

vast expenditures of time and effort

The energy expenditure was significant.

the expenditure of funds for the new school

The project will require an expenditure of effort on everyone's part.

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet, despite decades of effort and millions in capital expenditures, true end-to-end lineage across a complex enterprise mosaic of custom builds and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products remained an elusive goal. — Barney Krishnan, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Revenue from red light camera fines would be required to be reinvested in street safety improvements and could not be used for the city’s general fund expenditures. — Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Tech’s hyperscalers are shelling out hundreds of billions of dollars this year on capital expenditures to fuel data center develop and purchase the graphics processing units needed to fill them. — Kate Rooney, CNBC, 21 Aug. 2026

Yet the Fed pays more attention to a separate gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which is running hotter than the CPI. — Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

probably from Medieval Latin expenditus, variant past participle of Latin expendere "to weigh, pay out, expend" + -ure

First Known Use

1769, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

expenditure

noun

ex·​pen·​di·​ture ik-ˈspen-di-chər 

-də-ˌchu̇(ə)r

1

: the act of spending (as money, time, or energy)

2

: something that is spent

Legal Definition

expenditure

noun

ex·​pen·​di·​ture ik-ˈspen-di-chər, -ˌchu̇r 

1

: the act or process of paying out

2

: something paid out see also capital expenditure