/ spend; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb ( spent , spent / spent; NAmE /)
1.
spend sth (on sth / on doing sth) to give money to pay for goods, services, etc. :
[ vn ]
I've spent all my money already.
She spent £100 on a new dress.
[ vn -ing ]
The company has spent thousands of pounds updating their computer systems.
[also v ]
2.
spend sth (on sth) | spend sth (doing sth / in doing sth) to use time for a particular purpose; to pass time :
[ vn ]
We spent the weekend in Paris.
How long did you spend on your homework?
How do you spend your spare time?
Most of her life was spent in caring for others.
[ vn -ing ]
I spend too much time watching television.
3.
[ vn ] [ often passive ] to use energy, effort, etc., especially until it has all been used :
She spends too much effort on things that don't matter.
—see also spent
•
IDIOMS
- spend the night with sb
- spend a penny
■ noun
[ sing. ] ( informal ) the amount of money spent for a particular purpose or over a particular length of time :
The average spend at the cafe is £10 a head.
••
SYNONYMS
spend
invest ♦ pay out ♦ pay up ♦ cough up ♦ fork out ♦ shell out
These words all mean to give money to pay for goods or services.
spend
to give money to pay for goods or services:
She spent £100 on a new dress.
invest
(of an organization or a government) to spend money on sth in order to make it better or more successful:
The government has invested heavily in public transport.
pay sth out
to pay a lot of money for sth or to sb:
The company pays out a large share of its profits in dividends.
pay up
( rather informal ) to pay all the money that you owe to sb, especially when you do not want to or when the payment is late:
I had a hard time getting him to pay up.
cough (sth) up
( informal ) to pay or give money unwillingly:
She finally coughed up the money she owed.
pay up or cough up?
You can cough up money that you or sb else owes. You cannot pay up for sb else's debts, only your own. Pay up does not take an object: His family shouldn't have to pay up for his gambling debts. • She finally paid up the money she owed us.
fork out (sth)
( informal ) to spend a lot of money on sth, especially unwillingly:
We've forked out a small fortune on home improvements over the years.
shell (sth) out
( informal ) to spend a lot of money on sth.
fork out or shell out?
You fork out for sth more unwillingly than you shell out for sth.
PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS :
to spend / pay out / fork out / shell out (money) on sth
to pay out / pay up / cough up / fork out / shell out for sth
to spend / invest / pay out / cough up / fork out / shell out a lot
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English spendan , from Latin expendere pay out; partly also a shortening of obsolete dispend , from Latin dispendere pay out.