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

The first-stage booster flew for a record-tieng 20th time, but was expended getting the payload to medium-Earth orbit. —Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Apr. 2026

The club expended so much energy and effort to beat the San Diego Padres in the wild-card round — and then lost a best-of-five series against the Milwaukee Brewers — there was no realistic path forward. —Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026

The county expended $19 million of the funds to complete 53 projects protecting more than 1,900 acres and leveraged over $34 million in partnership funds. —Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 25 Apr. 2026

Weapons expended or deployed in one region are often drawn from the same inventories intended for another. —James Laporta, CBS News, 24 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