1
as in pays
to hand over or use up in payment
I always end up spending too much money at the mall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in consumes
to make complete use of
the town has already spent its budget for snow removal, and it's only January
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in loses
to use up carelessly
spent all his energy on impractical schemes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spends
The Cowboys have mastered the art of entertaining and interesting better than any sports franchise in the world, but there is a redundancy that to the person who spends a lot of their money on it is justifiably checked out.
—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Jan. 2026
Browns Cleveland boasts an elite defense led by the league’s best pass rusher, an owner who spends more cash than any other team and a promising nucleus from the 2025 draft class.
—Jacob Robinson, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Ben Evans spends $400 a week to live in an extended stay hotel in DeKalb County.
—Kaley Fedko, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 7 Jan. 2026
Daly's parents live in rural Illinois and her mom spends a lot of time online shopping.
—Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
In a new piece in this week’s issue, Antonia Hitchens spends time with Loomer and those around her.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
Know someone who spends a ton of time on their feet—a teacher or a nurse, perhaps?
—Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 11 Nov. 2025
Garfield, meanwhile, is a Congressman who represents Ohio, but spends most of his time back home.
—David Bianculli, NPR, 10 Nov. 2025
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Jan. 2026
Browns Cleveland boasts an elite defense led by the league’s best pass rusher, an owner who spends more cash than any other team and a promising nucleus from the 2025 draft class.
—Jacob Robinson, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Ben Evans spends $400 a week to live in an extended stay hotel in DeKalb County.
—Kaley Fedko, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 7 Jan. 2026
Daly's parents live in rural Illinois and her mom spends a lot of time online shopping.
—Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
In a new piece in this week’s issue, Antonia Hitchens spends time with Loomer and those around her.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
Know someone who spends a ton of time on their feet—a teacher or a nurse, perhaps?
—Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 11 Nov. 2025
Garfield, meanwhile, is a Congressman who represents Ohio, but spends most of his time back home.
—David Bianculli, NPR, 10 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spends
Verb
-
Skandalakis, meanwhile, warns that the hourly rates being requested by defense attorneys far surpass what Georgia typically pays when appointing conflict counsel.—
Zachary Bynum,
CBS News,
14 Jan. 2026
-
His most recent Instagram post is from 2024 and pays tribute to his deceased bandmate, Liam Payne.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In this configuration, the model GPU consumes 414 watts and reaches a peak temperature of just under 70 °C—typical for a processor.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
14 Jan. 2026
-
Demand for memory chips has also been surging as the AI data center buildout consumes much of the high-bandwidth memory on the market.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Interestingly the pool scene, where Kevin loses his dad’s massive swim trunks while bombing in the pool, was filmed at the Four Seasons Chicago – the Plaza Hotel doesn’t have an indoor pool.—
Adam Turner,
Condé Nast Traveler,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Once a cell loses 17% or more of its volume, it is extruded.—
Elise Cutts,
Quanta Magazine,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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That gives the car a one-to-one power-to-weight ratio, a figure usually reserved for modern hypercars.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Using music for change, a pair of winners gives children a voice through songwriting.—
Sharon Chin,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The denial exhausts the city’s legal options for the 2022 ballot measure, known as Measure C.—
Jennifer Van Grove,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Ella has shades of Holly Hunter's intense, workaholic producer Jane from Brooks' 1987 masterpiece Broadcast News, the smartest person in any room who both exhausts and enchants everyone around her.—
Esther Zuckerman,
Time,
12 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Leaving grow lights on around the clock stresses your plants and wastes energy.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Proposition 50 mocks California voters and wastes hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the process.—
Kaitlyn Schallhorn,
Oc Register,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Cold weather drains batteries quickly.—
Staff Author,
Travel + Leisure,
6 Jan. 2026
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The great Amazon in its north drains large areas as does the Parana-River Plate watershed to its south that reaches the Atlantic in the estuary between Argentina and Uruguay, The San Francisco flows north for hundreds of miles before hooking a right and dropping to the Atlantic.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Unlike glossy black, this effect absorbs light in a subtle way, creating a richer, more modern visual texture.—
Andrea Carbajal,
Glamour,
9 Jan. 2026
-
And although lightweight, the shoe doesn’t compromise on support — it’s designed with a memory foam sole that absorbs impact and provides an extra layer of padding.—
Nicol Natale,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spends. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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