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

To Burry's charge that customers are overstating the useful lives of Nvidia's graphics processing units in order to justify runaway capital expenditures, Nvidia counters that its customers depreciate GPUs over four to six years based on real-world longevity and utilization patterns. —Yun Li, CNBC, 25 Nov. 2025

The guidance on capital expenditures remained unchanged at approximately $400 million. —David Moin, Footwear News, 25 Nov. 2025

In a report released last Wednesday, California’s Legislative Analyst provides an analysis of the state’s General Fund budget condition including both revenue and expenditure estimates. —Jon Coupal, Oc Register, 24 Nov. 2025

In the third quarter of 2024, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft increased their investment in data centers 81 percent compared to the previous year, per the telecom market researcher Dell’Oro Group, and have already spent $360 billion on capital expenditures over the last 12 months. —Sean Patrick Cooper, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2025

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