spend

play

verb \ ˈspend \

Definition of spend

spent play \ˈspent\; spending

transitive verb

1 :to use up or pay out :expend

2 a :exhaust, wear out

the hurricane gradually spent itself

b :to consume wastefully :squander

the waters are not ours to spend
—J. R. Ellis

3 :to cause or permit to elapse :pass

spend the night

4 :give up, sacrifice

intransitive verb

1 :to expend or waste wealth or strength

2 :to become expended or consumed

3 :to have an orgasm

—

spendable

play \ˈspen-də-bəl\ adjective

—

spender

noun

See spend defined for English-language learners

See spend defined for kids

Examples of spend in a Sentence

I spent $30 on his birthday gift.
They spend a lot on clothes and cars.
I want to buy a new car, but I don't have much money to spend.
Her willingness to spend freely made her popular among her friends.
He spends lavishly on vacations.
I spent my summer at the beach.
She spent eight months living in New York City.
Relaxing with friends is a great way to spend a weekend.
Our cat spends most of his time sleeping.
Too much of my time is spent arguing with customers.

Recent Examples of spend from the Web

And this from a man who had spent thousands of hours over several decades at El Morocco and the Copacabana, Annabel’s in London, and Régine’s in Paris.

— bob colacello, Vanities, "Why Studio 54 Still Lives on in Our Imaginations," 31 Aug. 2017
The event is designed to let neighbors spend some time with one another and to think about the importance of crime prevention.

— steve lord, Aurora Beacon-News, "Aurora celebrates growth in Night Out events," 30 Aug. 2017
Connor Caponi, a Brookfield kid who moved to Indiana to play at a prep school, spent some time in Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic with the Team USA U18 hockey team in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.

— jr radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "An area running back goes viral, yellow bandanas, old dudes golfing and more! The inaugural Play by Play Newsletter is here.," 30 Aug. 2017
Dunaway spent the Tuesday morning helping to clear three neighborhoods in Baytown – which got hammered with 51.88 inches of rain.

— jen kirby, Daily Intelligencer, "‘It Took Two Boat Rides’: Texans on Surviving the Storm," 30 Aug. 2017
There are still spending plans, tracked on a spreadsheet of money coming in and going out.

— stephanie wang, Indianapolis Star, "How a single mom went from homeless to homeowner," 30 Aug. 2017
According to the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, the U.S. has spent $714 billion on warfighting and reconstruction in Afghanistan since fiscal year 2002.

— daniel depetris, National Review, "Five Questions for Trump on Afghanistan," 27 Aug. 2017
Twenge says that many of the negative effects of smartphones don’t emerge until teens spend two hours or more per day.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "New Episode of Radio Atlantic: Are Smartphones Harming Our Kids?," 25 Aug. 2017
Both 2017 first-round picks spent time on the sidelines this offseason with various injuries.

— larry holder, NOLA.com, "8 Saints players to watch vs. Texans in preseason home opener," 25 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'spend.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of spend

Middle English, from Old English -spendan, from Medieval Latin expendere to disburse, use up, from Latin, to measure by weight, pay out — more at expend

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

spend Synonyms

Synonyms

disburse, drop, expend, fork (over, out, or up), give, lay out, outlay, pay, shell out

Antonyms

renew, replace

Related Words

lavish, rain; blow, dissipate, fritter (away), run through, squander, throw away, waste

Near Antonyms

cache, hoard, lay up, save; acquire, earn, gain, garner, make, procure, realize, secure, win

SPEND Defined for English Language Learners

spend

play

verb

Definition of spend for English Language Learners

: to use (money) to pay for something
: to allow (time) to pass in a particular place or while doing a particular activity
: to use (energy or effort) to do something

SPEND Defined for Kids

spend

play

verb \ ˈspend \

Definition of spend for Students

spent \ˈspent\; spending

1 :to use (money) to pay for something

2 :to cause or allow (as time) to pass

… he parked his car … and was spending considerable time walking about town.
—Robert McCloskey, Homer Price

3 :to use wastefully :squander She spends a lot of energy worrying.

Learn More about spend

See words that rhyme with spend Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for spend Spanish Central: Translation of spend Nglish: Translation of spend for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of spend for Arabic speakers

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spend

Definition of spend

spendable

spender

From the M-W Editors

Examples of spend in a Sentence

Recent Examples of spend from the Web

Origin and Etymology of spend

spend Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Phrases Related to SPEND

Related Phrases

SPEND Defined for English Language Learners

spend

Definition of spend for English Language Learners

SPEND Defined for Kids

spend

Definition of spend for Students

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