EXPENDING Synonyms: 84 Similar and Opposite Words

expending

verb

present participle of expend

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

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of expending Successful and aspiring Black professionals in many businesses will feel rightfully anxious, be expending critical cognitive efforts in reviewing their every turn. — Nancy Doyle, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026 Removing spent flowers will prevent the plant from expending energy to form seed heads. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 17 July 2026 The next Starliner flight will haul cargo to the ISS, expending one of the remaining Atlas Vs. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 7 July 2026 The Cubs have already moved Colin Rea, Ben Brown and Javier Assad into their rotation for extended stretches, expending almost all of their depth. — Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 17 June 2026 Smith receives limited federal grants, but battling the Education Department requires expending time, attention and money to a lawsuit rather than devoting those resources to student education. — Marie-Amelie George, The Conversation, 28 May 2026 Whether the lawsuit, filed for the city by the America First Policy Institute, is worth expending any of El Cajon’s time and resources on is far from clear. — Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 May 2026 Because what the Knicks are seeing right now is a player expending so much on one end that there may not be enough left on the other — and a coaching staff still searching for ways to pull him out of it before the games start to matter more. — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 17 Mar. 2026 With one missile – particularly one outfitted with cluster munitions – Iran can send millions of Israelis into bomb shelters and cause Israel and the US to continue expending a finite supply of costly missile interceptors. — Jeremy Diamond, CNN Money, 12 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for expending

Verb

Robert Saleh arrives in Tennessee after spending 2025 as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, returning to a head-coaching role after nearly four seasons leading the New York Jets.

— Jenny Catlin, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Meeting Kimberly Schlapman at Samford University, singing together in choir, and spending college summers performing in North Carolina.

— Sid Evans, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of spending

Verb

This matters because consistently consuming too much sodium can raise blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

— Daryl Austin, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2026
There, 730 individuals fell ill after consuming MBG meals, though most — 706 of the victims — are now recovering from their symptoms at home, the outlet reported, citing Sidoarjo health office chief Lakhsmie Herawati Yuwantina.

— Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of consuming

Verb

The massive cash injection of four years ago was much needed, but Barca will be paying it back and more over the next two decades.

— Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
This 37% price cut gives backpackers, beachgoers, and closet rock stars an opportunity to capture surprisingly rich bass and all-weather resilience without paying standard retail prices.

— Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of paying

Verb

What is clear is that Keith and Camilla’s search for answers is time-consuming, mentally draining and deeply frustrating, compounded by their grief and not helped by what feels like a lack of accountability.

— Stuart James, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Condensation water was draining slowly from the walk-in cooler at the floor drain.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of draining

Verb

Commanders should seek positional advantages without exhausting their soldiers, manipulate the enemy’s movements when possible, and recognize when circumstances make pursuit or attack unwise.

— Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026
The dispute has become even more complicated because some members of the 2022 class pursued professional opportunities after exhausting their eligibility under the previous system.

— Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of exhausting

Verb

Beyond its vast holdings of US debt, Japan remains one of the premier foreign buyers in global sovereign bond markets, with government debt from major European economies and Australia historically absorbing substantial Japanese capital inflows.

— , CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026
As a result, each shell collapses sequentially, gradually absorbing and dissipating the kinetic energy.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of absorbing

Verb

The expectation is that, with the SAFER barrier, cars will slide along it in an accident, reducing the risk of the car ending up bouncing back onto the racing line.

— Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Asked by the Miami Herald who would cover the difference between what Hialeah pays Miami-Dade County for water and sewer services and what the city would collect after reducing customers’ bills by 25% or 50%, Calvo said there is no gap.

— Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of reducing

Verb

There’s about a half-dozen coordinators who should be high on ADs’ radars, perhaps even more so after a bunch of top Group of 6 head coaches got Power 4 jobs last year, depleting the ranks a bit.

— Bruce Feldman, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Authorities were wary of depleting China’s supply and someday becoming dependent on imports, as the country is for oil and gas.

— GLORIA XIONG, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of depleting

Browse Nearby Words

expended

expending

expenditure

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“Expending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expending. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of expending

verb

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