1
as in spending
to hand over or use up in payment
redecoration will have to wait, since we've just expended our last dollar in buying the house
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in consuming
to make complete use of
settlers had to be sure not to expend their supply of firewood before the end of the long winter
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of expending
Thankfully, after expending serious overtime up front, the design crew lightened its hand over the rest of the truck, which remains a stout, sturdy pickup without the over-accentuation that characterizes the new US-market Tundra and Tacoma.
—
New Atlas, 16 Jan. 2026
And if this energy is used or leaks away, cells can replenish it by expending more of their chemical energy.
—Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 12 Jan. 2026
Some argue that instead of expending resources and effort to knock its adversaries off balance, the United States should invest in itself and its distinct advantages, including existing and new relationships with allies, friends, and partners.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
The process of expending off energy makes a dying star what's called a red giant, before the white dwarf remains.
—Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 11 Dec. 2025
Noise from loud ‘information laden’ conversations and music, task interruptions, alerts from social media applications, email, Teams calls, visual distractions all of which break your concentration and require you to re-focus expending un-necessary cognitive energy.
—Andrew Mawson, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Drawing on decades of lessons learned from previous space missions, this technique involves the use of atmospheric drag over the course of multiple passes to change orbits while expending minimal fuel.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 20 Aug. 2025
Men at the farmhouse responded by blasting away with guns, expending boxes of ammunition to no effect.
—Josh Wood, The Courier-Journal, 6 Aug. 2025
New Atlas, 16 Jan. 2026
And if this energy is used or leaks away, cells can replenish it by expending more of their chemical energy.
—Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 12 Jan. 2026
Some argue that instead of expending resources and effort to knock its adversaries off balance, the United States should invest in itself and its distinct advantages, including existing and new relationships with allies, friends, and partners.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
The process of expending off energy makes a dying star what's called a red giant, before the white dwarf remains.
—Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 11 Dec. 2025
Noise from loud ‘information laden’ conversations and music, task interruptions, alerts from social media applications, email, Teams calls, visual distractions all of which break your concentration and require you to re-focus expending un-necessary cognitive energy.
—Andrew Mawson, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Drawing on decades of lessons learned from previous space missions, this technique involves the use of atmospheric drag over the course of multiple passes to change orbits while expending minimal fuel.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 20 Aug. 2025
Men at the farmhouse responded by blasting away with guns, expending boxes of ammunition to no effect.
—Josh Wood, The Courier-Journal, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expending
Verb
-
The fiscal angst is most obvious in urban school districts, where enrollment declines are most severe and where unions are the strongest, often spending heavily to elect friendly school board members.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Pritzker’s $56 billion election-year budget plan represents one of the smallest increases in state spending the governor has proposed since the governor took office in 2019.—
Rick Pearson,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Fiber intake, in particular, showed a strong association with longevity, while consuming lots of sugary beverages was linked to higher all-cause mortality.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
13 Feb. 2026
-
What’s more, in athletes, typical signs of an eating disorder, such as training for long hours without appropriate breaks for meals or obsessing about only consuming certain healthy foods, can be overlooked due to the normalization of these behaviors in high-level sports.—
Emily Hemendinger,
The Conversation,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The latest chapter in this endless epic belongs to Kansas State, which is trying to line item its way out of paying Jerome Tang the money the administration offered him.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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To prevent this from happening again, repot the peace lily in fresh soil that is well-draining.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Wembanyama made a 3-pointer, but Raptors star Barnes ended it by draining his only shot of the game.—
Greg Beacham,
Twin Cities,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The selling pressure appears to be exhausting itself, setting the stage for a classic snap-back rally.—
Nishant Pant,
CNBC,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Still, investors in tech giants are growing nervous because these firms are essentially exhausting their available capital to fund the infrastructure buildout, according to Luria.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Legacy software companies, not workers, are absorbing the real shock.—
David Stout,
Fortune,
19 Feb. 2026
-
For a man who spent years absorbing hits from some of the biggest, fastest athletes on the planet in the NFL, comparing bobsledding to being back on the football field speaks volumes about the forces involved in the sport.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In addition to the effects of the pandemic and tariffs, climate issues — drought in Vietnam, heavy rain in Indonesia, and hot, dry weather in Brazil — are blamed for reducing yields of coffee crops and driving up global prices.—
Matt Sedensky,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
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That means air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration will receive paychecks as usual, reducing the risk of widespread flight cancellations.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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That there are ways of getting outside yourself that enrich you rather than depleting you.—
Erik Pedersen,
Oc Register,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Research suggests that avid sports bettors are at risk of depleting their household savings, declaring bankruptcy, and even committing intimate-partner violence.—
Jacob Stern,
The Atlantic,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Expending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expending. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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