squander

  • 1squander — squan‧der [ˈskwɒndə ǁ ˈskwɑːndər] verb [transitive] to spend money or use your time carelessly on things that are not useful: • The bank squandered $500 million playing the U.S. bond market. squander something on something • He squandered the… …

    Financial and business terms

  • 2Squander — Squan der (skw[o^]n d[ e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Squandered} ( d[ e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Squandering}.] [Cf. Scot. squatter to splash water about, to scatter, to squander, Prov. E. swatter, Dan. sqvatte, Sw. sqv[ a]tta to squirt, sqv[ a]ttra to …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3squander — 1580s (implied in squandering), to spend recklessly or prodigiously, of unknown origin; Shakespeare used it 1593 in Merchant of Venice with a sense of to be scattered over a wide area. Squander bug, a British symbol of reckless extravagance and… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4squander — [skwän′dər] vt. [prob. a specialized use of dial. squander, to scatter, popularized after Shakespeare s Merchant of Venice, I, iii, 22] to spend or use wastefully or extravagantly vi. to be wasteful or extravagant n. Rare a squandering;… …

    English World dictionary

  • 5Squander — Squan der, n. The act of squandering; waste. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 6Squander — Squan der, v. i. 1. To spend lavishly; to be wasteful. [1913 Webster] They often squandered, but they never gave. Savage. [1913 Webster] 2. To wander at random; to scatter. [R.] [1913 Webster] The wise man s folly is anatomized Even by… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 7squander — index consume, lose (be deprived of), misemploy, mishandle (mismanage), overdraw Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. B …

    Law dictionary

  • 8squander — vb *waste, dissipate, fritter, consume Analogous words: *scatter, disperse, dissipate, dispel: *spend, expend, disburse …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 9squander — [v] fritter away, use up be prodigal with, be wasteful, blow*, cash out*, consume, dissipate, expend, frivol, frivol away, go through, lavish, misspend, misuse, prodigalize, put out*, run through, scatter, spend, spend like water*, spring for*,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 10squander — ► VERB ▪ waste in a reckless or foolish manner. ORIGIN of unknown origin …

    English terms dictionary