spend

verb

ˈspend

spent ˈspent

; spending

Synonyms of spend next

transitive verb

: to use up or pay out : expend

: exhaust, wear out

the hurricane gradually spent itself

: to consume wastefully : squander

the waters are not ours to spend—

J. R. Ellis

: to cause or permit to elapse : pass

spend the night

: give up, sacrifice

intransitive verb

: to expend or waste wealth or strength

: to become expended or consumed

: to have an orgasm

spendable

ˈspen-də-bəl

adjective

spender noun

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. See More

Recent Examples on the Web The affidavit claims Kelley used the credit card and spent thousands of dollars on guns and related items. —

Tracy Neal, arkansasonline.com, 25 Nov. 2023 Karlie Kloss spent Thanksgiving enjoying quality time with her boys! —

Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 25 Nov. 2023 The couple spent a lot on the catering, so that is just not okay. —

Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 25 Nov. 2023 Politics Consultant: San Diego should spend $213M on park repairs and upgrades; 28 parks are in poor condition Oct. 17, 2021 Anderson said the foundation prefers to focus on making quiet progress instead of blaming past city leaders. —

David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Nov. 2023 That required him to find a repair shop in Spain and spend $300 to reattach the wheel. —

Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 24 Nov. 2023 Analysts consider the five-day Black Friday weekend — which includes the Monday after the holiday known as Cyber Monday — a key barometer of shoppers’ willingness to spend. —

Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2023 That’s where the filmmakers spent time refining the pacing and rhythm. —

Amber Dowling, Variety, 13 Nov. 2023 Fewer gifts to buy will make shopping less of a chore and give people more time to spend quality time with friends and family, so Black Friday might be set aside to get together for drinks and a meal rather than shopping this year. —

Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spend.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of spend was in the 13th century

See more words from the same century