# spend

> English word · Verb · IPA /spɛnd/ · frequency rank #1,152

## Definitions
1. To pay out (money).
2. To bestow; to employ; often with on or upon.
3. To squander.
4. To exhaust, to wear out.
5. To consume, to use up (time).
6. To have an orgasm; to ejaculate sexually.
7. To waste or wear away; to be consumed.
8. To be diffused; to spread.
9. To break ground; to continue working.

## Etymology
From Middle English spenden, from Old English spendan (attested especially in compounds āspendan (“to spend”), forspendan (“to use up, consume”)), from Proto-West Germanic *spendōn (“to spend”), borrowed from Latin expendere (“to weigh out”). Doublet of expend.
Cognate with Old High German spentōn (“to consume, use, spend”) (whence German spenden (“to donate, provide”)), Middle Dutch spenden (“to spend, dedicate”), Old Icelandic spenna (“to spend”).

## Easily confused with
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spin)
- **sued** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-sued)
- **spun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spun)
- **Sven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-sven)
- **spew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spew)
- **spud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spud)
- **stand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-stand)
- **spent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spent)
- **spine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spine)
- **sperm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-sperm)
- **spins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spins)
- **stead** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-stead)
- **steed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-steed)
- **stent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-stent)
- **spina** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spina)
- **spunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spunk)
- **spiny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spiny)
- **spread** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-spread)
- **suspend** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-suspend)
- **stipend** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spend-vs-stipend)

## Common misspellings (8)
`psend`, `sepnd`, `spedn`, `spendd`, `spennd`, `spned`, `sppend`, `sspend`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spend