Expend Meaning
/ɪkˈspɛnd/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo consume, exhaust (some resource).
Sentence Examples
According to the budget, she could expend no more on supplies.
CEFR Practice Quiz
They had to ____ a large amount of energy to climb the steep mountain.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Athletes frequently ____ a great deal of energy during intense competition and training.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin expendō (“to weigh; to pay out”). Doublet of spend.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"If my death might make this island happy […]
I would expend it with all willingness."
— 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
"So next day the hunting began. I did not know how to shoot, but I proceeded to learn. And when I had expended some thirty shells for three seals, I decided that the ammunition would be exhausted before I acquired the necessary knowledge. I had used eight shells for lighting fires before I hit upon the device of banking the embers with wet moss, and there remained not over a hundred shells in the box."
— 1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:
"Here Black expends an important tempo. 11...B-K3 seems better."
— 1962 May, Max Euwe, “Game of the Month”, in Chess Review:
"To handle the unceasing traffic increase, immense sums of money are being expended in dealing with bottlenecks."
— 1962 December, “Beyond the Channel: Switzerland: Federal Railways' progress”, in Modern Railways, page 416:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
They had to ____ a large amount of energy to climb the steep mountain.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Athletes frequently ____ a great deal of energy during intense competition and training.