Library / English Dictionary

SPEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: spent   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pay out

Example:

spend money

Synonyms:

drop; expend; spend

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "spend" is one way to...):

pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spend"):

misspend (spend time badly or unwisely)

piddle; piddle away; trifle; wanton; wanton away (waste time; spend one's time idly or inefficiently)

lay out (spend or invest)

economise; economize; save (spend sparingly, avoid the waste of)

commit; invest; place; put (make an investment)

nickel-and-dime; penny-pinch (spend money frugally; spend as little as possible)

misspend (spend (money or other resources) unwisely)

underspend (spend at less than the normal rate)

trifle away; wanton; wanton away (spend wastefully)

blow (spend lavishly or wastefully on)

afford (be able to spare or give up)

consume; squander; ware; waste (spend extravagantly)

consume; deplete; eat; eat up; exhaust; run through; use up; wipe out (use up (resources or materials))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something on somebody

Sentence examples:

They spend money on their grandchild

They spend the money

Derivation:

spender (someone who spends money to purchase goods or services)

spending (the act of spending or disbursing money)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Spend completely

Example:

I spend my pocket money in two days

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "spend" is one way to...):

consume; deplete; eat; eat up; exhaust; run through; use up; wipe out (use up (resources or materials))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spend"):

overspend (spend more than available of (a budget))

underspend (spend less than the whole of (a budget, for example))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something on somebody

Sentence example:

They spend the money

Derivation:

spender (someone who spends money prodigally)

spending (the act of spending or disbursing money)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Use up a period of time in a specific way

Example:

how are you spending your summer vacation?

Synonyms:

pass; spend

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spend"):

summer (spend the summer)

overwinter; winter (spend the winter)

sojourn (spend a certain length of time; reside temporarily)

get through; while away (spend or pass, as with boredom or in a pleasant manner; of time)

do; serve (spend time in prison or in a labor camp)

holiday; vacation (spend or take a vacation)

weekend (spend the weekend)

slum (spend time at a lower socio-economic level than one's own, motivated by curiosity or desire for adventure; usage considered condescending and insensitive)

soldier (serve as a soldier in the military)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They spend a long time

Credits

 Context examples: 

Horses are active day and night with most of the day spent seeking and consuming food.

(Horse, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A question about whether an individual is or has been forced to spend time in bed.

(Forced to be in Bed, NCI Thesaurus)

The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Her mother rejoiced when she saw her, and we all spent a very happy evening together.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Finally we pulled the boats up among the brushwood and spent the night on the bank of the river.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I would sooner send him away, though I know I am the only person who appreciates him, than have him, and not spend his money on himself.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I was not wrong when I decided that his days had been spent on the sea.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"I am come to see how you are spending your holiday," he said.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Two nights and a day he spent in the cabin.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

My friend Watson could tell you that I spent a whole morning in that exercise.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)