■ verb ( past and past participle spent )
1》 pay out (money) in buying or hiring goods or services.
2》 use or use up (energy or resources); exhaust.
↘pass (time) in a specified way.
■ noun informal an amount of money paid out.
Phrases
~ a penny Brit. euphemistic urinate. [with ref. to coin-operated locks of public toilets.]
Derivatives
~able adjective
~er noun
Origin
OE ~an , from L. expendere 'pay out'; also a shortening of obs. di~ , from L. di~ere 'pay out'.