EXPENDS Synonyms: 84 Similar and Opposite Words

expends

verb

present tense third-person singular of expend

as in spends

to hand over or use up in payment redecoration will have to wait, since we've just expended our last dollar in buying the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in consumes

to make complete use of settlers had to be sure not to expend their supply of firewood before the end of the long winter

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of expends If the stalk is left alone, the plant expends energy creating seeds instead of new blooms. —

Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 16 Apr. 2026 This spiritual sequel to ‘Frankenstein’ is a romantic tale of obsession, possession and fantasy — adjectives that also apply to its filmmaker, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who expends massive quantities of energy jolting it to life. —

Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026 This upper stage of the rocket kicks in above 62 miles (100 kilometers), once the core stage expends all its propellant. —

Marcos Fernandez Tous, The Conversation, 4 Mar. 2026 The familiarity expends to the animation itself, courtesy of the prolific Titmouse studio. —

Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 20 Feb. 2026 Targeting multiple muscle groups expends calories more efficiently. —

Jakob Roze, Health, 5 Feb. 2026 Virtually every cell on every branch of the tree of life expends a hefty chunk of its energy budget — in some cells, more than half — on maintaining a voltage across its membrane. —

Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 12 Jan. 2026 The places facing existential climate risks—especially those in the Deep South—are mostly in states that have long been considered politically uncompetitive, where neither party expends much effort or money to gain votes. —

Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2025 China’s apparent surge in missile production comes as the US expends sophisticated defense systems in Ukraine and Israel, causing some ammunition shortages and sparking debate in Washington about how and where to deploy its high-end weapons. —

Tamara Qiblawi, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for expends

Verb

Magloire, who once dreamed of becoming a professional soccer career and has mixed feelings about the World Cup’s current state, nowadays spends more time thinking about movements on a stage than on a soccer field.

— Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 13 June 2026
When a company spends that much political capital warning about existential risk, policymakers eventually act on those warnings.

— Sandy Carter, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026