spend

The word “spend” means to pay out money in exchange for something. In plain terms, to pay out money, or to use up time.

“Spend” is pronounced spehnd (/spɛnd/ in IPA).

Here is “spend” used in a sentence: “Try not to spend all your paycheck in the first week.”

Depending on how it is used, “spend” can be a verb and a noun.

The word “spend” comes from Latin. From Old English spendan, borrowed from Latin expendere ("to weigh out"). A doublet of "expend" — both trace back to the same Latin verb.

“Spend” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Spend” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to pay out money in exchange for something.

Spend means to use up money on purchases in general: you spend money, or spend on clothes and food. Pay means to give a specific amount to a particular person or for a particular thing: you pay a bill, pay the rent, or pay someone. Spending is the broader activity; paying is the individual transaction.

The main opposite is save: to keep money rather than pay it out. Depending on context, earn also contrasts with spend, since earning brings money in while spending sends it out. Other near-opposites include hoard and conserve, both suggesting you hold on to money instead of parting with it.

In its core meaning, yes: to spend is to pay out money. But the word stretches naturally to time and energy, as in 'spend an hour' or 'spend all your effort'. In every case the idea is the same: using up a limited resource in exchange for something.

'They spend about fifty pounds a week on groceries' shows the core meaning: paying out money for something. You might also say 'I don't want to spend that much on a phone', where spend again points to handing over money in exchange for goods.