expend

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin expendō (I weigh; I pay out). Doublet of spend.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɪkˈspɛnd/, /ɛkˈspɛnd/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛnd

Verb

expend (third-person singular simple present expends, present participle expending, simple past and past participle expended)

  1. (transitive) to consume, exhaust (some resource)
    • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, []”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
      If my death might make this island happy []
      I would expend it with all willingness.
    • 1962 December, “Beyond the Channel: Switzerland: Federal Railways' progress”, in Modern Railways, page 416:
      To handle the unceasing traffic increase, immense sums of money are being expended in dealing with bottlenecks.

Conjugation

Conjugation of expend
infinitive (to) expend
present tense past tense
1st-person singular expend expended
2nd-person singular expend, expendest expended, expendedst
3rd-person singular expends, expendeth expended
plural expend
subjunctive expend expended
imperative expend
participles expending expended

Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

Translations

See also