spending

Pluralspendings (some meanings)

1. 1
   act of payingnoununcountable

   Gerund of spend: the act of paying out money or of using up time or effort, rather than the amount spent.

   Reckless spending left the household deep in debt.

   Impulse spending at the checkout can quietly wreck a careful budget.

   UsageUse on for what the money goes to: spending on schools, reckless spending on roads.

   Oppositesaving

2. 2
   money spentnouncountable or uncountable

   The total amount of money that has been used, or is planned to be used, for a particular purpose.

   The company reviewed its marketing spending before approving next year's budget.

   Consumer spending fell sharply during the recession.

   UsageOften after a word naming who spends: consumer spending, government spending. Spending rises, falls or is cut.

   Similarexpenditure, outlay

   Oppositeincome

3. 3
   is using upverb

   Present participle of spend.

   He is spending more than he earns this year.

   The committee is spending freely ahead of the election.

   UsageSpending money on books; spending time doing something, as in spending an hour reading (not incorrect: spending an hour to read).

   Note

   The participle carries every sense of spend, not only money: spending an afternoon, spending one's strength until worn out. In older usage it could also mean squandering, so a dated text's spending may carry a note of waste.

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