spend

verb \ ˈspend \

|Updated on: 6 Aug 2018

Examples: spend in a Sentence

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 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

After a year spent preparing an account of Whitaker’s life, Regan saw Whitaker inducted into the Connecticut Veterans’ Hall of Fame.

— anne m. hamilton, courant.com, "He Brought His Skill For Teaching, Knack For Colonial Buildings To Coventry," 15 July 2018
Trump pressed members of the 69-year-old alliance to meet their commitment of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic products on defense by 2024.

— Fox News, "Trump dubs himself 'stable genius,' calls NATO summit a success," 13 July 2018
Two productive seasons on the varsity raised some concerns, so the junior guard has spent most of the summer fixing her flaws.

— bob narang, Lake County News-Sun, "School of hard Knox: Junior point guard Heaven Knox puts in the extra work for North Chicago," 13 July 2018
The family farm where Dan Stucker, 69, spent summers pitching hay turned 104 his year.

— zack colman, Scientific American, "A Trump Oil Boom Could Transform This Rocky Mountain Landscape," 13 July 2018
The group has been working on it for nearly two years, and Carr is confident the time will prove well spent.

— gary graff, Billboard, "BAHARI Shares 'Chasers' About 'That Craving to Meet the Right Someone': Premiere," 13 July 2018
As Eloranta pointed out, NATO members committed in 2014 to spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense by 2024.

— heather souvaine horn, The New Republic, "Is It Fair for Trump to Bash NATO Over Military Spending?," 12 July 2018
One really bad thing he’s seized upon is the failure of many of NATO’s 29 members to meet their 2014 pledge of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense.

— andrew malcolm, SFChronicle.com, "Will Trump stand up to Putin or fall for him?," 12 July 2018
According to the state Auditor General, traditional public schools spend nearly 54 percent of their budgets on classroom instruction.

— craig harris, azcentral, "Arizona charter school founder makes millions building his own schools," 11 July 2018

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

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

spend Synonyms

Phrases

run out of;

SPEND Defined for English Language Learners

spend

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