expend

verb

ex·​pend ik-ˈspend 

expended; expending; expends

transitive verb

1

: to pay out : spend

… the social services upon which public revenue is expended.

—J. A. Hobson

2

: to make use of for a specific purpose : utilize

projects on which they expended great energy

also : use up

expender noun

Synonyms of expend

• spend
• pay

Examples of expend in a Sentence

Are we willing to expend the time and resources required to solve the problem?

redecoration will have to wait, since we've just expended our last dollar in buying the house

Recent Examples on the Web

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

Washington should be able to shoulder some of that workload and allow Jeanty to expend more energy with his opportunities. —Sam Warren, New York Times, 6 May 2026

One of those blew up on its landing attempt while another was purposefully expended to get its payload to a higher orbital insertion. —Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 May 2026

Roughly 1,100 missiles expended translates to between 1.5 and 3 tons of NdFeB feedstock. —Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English expenden, exspenden, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French espendre, expendre, borrowed from Latin expendere "to weigh, pay out, disburse," from ex- ex- entry 1 + pendere "to weigh, have a weight of, pay (out), estimate, consider" — more at pendent

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for expend

• amend
• append
• ascend
• attend
• backend
• befriend
• boyfriend
• commend
• compend
• contend
• defend
• depend

Kids Definition

expend

verb

ex·​pend ik-ˈspend 

1

: to pay out : spend

expend state funds

2

: use up

expend energy