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Glite Dictionary
to outspend

to outspend

7 4.6
To use more money than someone else to get an advantage
  • verb
  • /aʊtˈspɛnd/
translation icon : gastar más que
  • The Democrats have the talent, but the GOP will outspend them by a huge margin.
  • outspend their opponents
  • outspend his rivals
  • vastly outspend

You're not going to outspend those players on Google Adwords and on TV and outdoor media and direct mail.

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Examples

  • The only chance Romney/Ryan has is to outspend the Obama campaign about 2 to 1.

    Blog text (25)

  • The candidates are "strong," they would claim, primarily because they can outspend their opponents.

    Academic text (1998)

  • By the way, we could cut our military in half and still outspend the Chinese by a couple hundred billion dollars.

    Blog text (34)

  • We outspend the next 10 countries, China and Russia included, and that will not change.

    Blog text (21)

  • Do we seriously need to continue outspending the next six countries on defense, combined?

    Blog text (29)

  • Can you outspend me?

    Hansel and Gretel (1983)

  • Much attention focused on the Republican money, but Democrats also raised remarkable sums, in many cases outspending Republicans.

    Blog text (22)

  • Indeed, it has been estimated that Japan's development assistance has increased to the point where Japan now slightly outspends the United States.

    Academic text (1995)

  • What matters is that in 2008, Obama overwhelmed McCain by outspending him 10 to 1 down the stretch.

    Blog text (9)

  • In a fierce competition, the corporation decided to outspend its rivals to secure the top talent.

How Much

to overspend
7 4.4
to outspend
7 4.6
splurge
  • Informal
8 6.9
to spend
∞ 1.0
to save
842 1.0

Surface Forms

outspend infinitive
outspending present participle
outspends third person singular
outspent past
outspent past participle

Morphology

outspend = spend (transparent) = out + spend

Productive English prefix 'out-' meaning 'to do more than' combines with the verb 'spend' to yield 'spend more than'; the meaning is directly derivable.

Etymology

Outspend puts out- ('more than', as in outdo) together with spend ('use money'). So to outspend someone is to 'spend more than' them, often to win a competition.