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to spend

to spend

1.0
To use time doing something you choose
  • verb
  • /spɛnd/
translation icon : pasar
  • I like to spend my weekends reading books.
  • spend time
  • spend time thinking
  • spend hours

But it might mean that you shouldn't spend as much time with them.

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Examples

  • Participants were then asked to give the amount of time spent on intense physical activity in minutes.

    Academic text (2011)
  • How much time do you tend to spend with a patient?

  • And it's people have got to spend time looking for it.

  • We would see two, we would spend hours with one person.

  • And then how do I spend my time right now?

  • We seem to have spent so much time on this question.

  • It's one of the programs where I have been spending a lot of my time.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I sometimes feel like I spend so much time working alone in my home office.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Indeed, most of us probably spend little time counting the number of words we write.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I'm grateful for the time that I spent with you.

Synonyms

to pass
vsto spend
761 1.0

To spend time doing something

is about using time actively for a particular activity
to expend
vsto spend
50 5.0

To use money, time, or energy for a purpose

focuses only on using a period of time for an activity

Idioms

1 9.9

To go to the toilet to pee

Phrasal Verbs

948 1.0

To pay money for something you buy or use

Compounds

spend-all
  • Informal
9.4

A person who often buys things they do not need and runs out of money

How Long

to devote
465 3.7
to spend
1.0
to burn time
  • Informal
7.5

Surface Forms

spend infinitive
spending present participle
spends third person singular
spent past
spent past participle

Etymology

Spend for time grew from the same idea as paying out things; a helpful way to remember is to think of time as something you 'pay' for. So, to spend an afternoon is to use that part of your day doing an activity.