spend
verb /spend/
/spend/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they spend | /spend/ /spend/ |
| he / she / it spends | /spendz/ /spendz/ |
| past simple spent | /spent/ /spent/ |
| past participle spent | /spent/ /spent/ |
| -ing form spending | /ˈspendɪŋ/ /ˈspendɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to give money to pay for goods, services, etc.
- spend something I've spent all my money already.
- spend something on something She spent £100 on a new dress.
- spend something on doing something That money would be better spent on educating children.
- spend something doing something The company has spent thousands of pounds updating their computer systems.
- I just can't seem to stop spending.
Extra ExamplesTopics Shoppinga1, Moneya1- We're spending too much and we need to cut back.
- Try to spend your money wisely.
- These patrons have money to spend.
- Work out how much you can afford to spend.
- Consumers are spending less because of fear of unemployment.
- the amount of money spent per student
- The government spends more on sport than on the arts.
- In 1953, consumers spent 20 per cent of their income on food.
- The company spent a lot on advertising.
- Do you know how much your family spends annually on holidays?
- The average household spends £59 per week on transport.
- I pay my bills and then I spend the rest on going out and having fun.
- The money spent on funding this research would be much better spent on cancer care and prevention.
- Why spend billions sending people into space?
- The government spent $11 million restoring the building.
- He had grown used to spending freely, without worrying about the consequences.
- During the boom years, the American public bought and spent like never before.
- They spent lavishly on entertaining.
- This jacket cost me £150, which I consider money well spent.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- wisely
- freely
- heavily
- …
- on
- per
- be money well spent
- [transitive] to use time for a particular purpose; to pass time
- spend something + adv./prep. We spent the day at the beach.
- I like to spend time with my friends.
- Her childhood was spent in Italy.
- spend something on something How long did you spend on your homework?
- spend something doing something They spent the whole night talking.
- I've spent years trying to learn Japanese.
- to spend hours/days/months doing something
- spend something in doing something Most of her life was spent in caring for others.
Extra Examples- We spent the weekend in Paris.
- How do you spend your spare time?
- He couldn't find a hotel and had to spend the night in the car.
- He spent six months in prison for the offence.
- She spends more time at work than at home.
- She had to spend two nights in hospital.
- There is concern about the amount of time our children spend in front of screens.
- She spends three hours a day on exercise.
- I've spent ages on this so I hope it's all right.
- We spent a very pleasant evening at a restaurant.
- We usually spend Christmas with my parents.
- The family spends every Thursday evening together.
- Every hour spent on practice is worth it.
- I spent a couple of hours talking to him but it was time well spent because he really helped me.
- This is where I want to spend the rest of my life.
- They spend winters in the Caribbean.
- After nearly 3 decades spent as a teacher, she's ready for a career change.
- I spend too much time watching television.
- Just spend a few minutes checking your work.
- He plans to spend a week touring the south coast.
- I spent about 20 minutes reading the wrong manual.
- In the summer she spent two weeks doing work experience at a law firm.
- You can spend the rest of the day relaxing.
- We'll spend the morning working in small groups.
- He has spent his life helping other people.
- A lot of time has been spent in developing these methods.
- Time spent in training staff is never wasted.
- [transitive, often passive] to use energy, effort, etc., especially until it has all been used
- spend something on something She spends too much effort on things that don't matter.
- spend something doing something The teacher spends a lot of energy planning a good lesson.
- spend itself The storm had finally spent itself.
Extra Examples- All his energy is spent on revenge.
- I can see you've spent a lot of energy on this.
- For a guy who spends so much energy trying to pick up women, Roger's pretty awful at it.
- There's not enough effort spent exploring these issues.
- Considering he spends so much effort criticizing our ideas, you'd expect him to come up with some alternatives.
- I felt that this excitement could not keep on long, that it must soon spend itself.
- It seemed at the time that the frantic rush to buy smartphones had finally spent itself.
Word OriginOld English spendan, from Latin expendere ‘pay out’; partly also a shortening of obsolete dispend, from Latin dispendere ‘pay out’.
Idioms
spend the night with somebody
- to stay with somebody for a night
- My daughter's spending the night with a friend.
- (also spend the night together)to stay with somebody for a night and have sex with them
spend a penny
- (old-fashioned, British English) people say ‘spend a penny’ to avoid saying ‘use the toilet’