squander

squan·der

Use squander in a sentence

verb

Squander is defined as to be wasteful.

An example of squander is taking a bite out of every piece in a shared box of chocolates until finding one you like.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"squander." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 July 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Squander>.

APA Style

squander. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Squander

squander

to spend or use wastefully or extravagantly

Origin of squander

probably a specialized use of dialect, dialectal squander, to scatter, popularized after Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, I, iii

to be wasteful or extravagant

Rare a squandering; extravagant expenditure

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"squander." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 July 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Squander>.

APA Style

squander. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Squander

squander

transitive verb

squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders

To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste.
To fail to take advantage of: squandered an opportunity to go to college.
Archaic To scatter.

noun

Extravagant expenditure; prodigality.

Origin of squander

Origin unknown

Related Forms:

squan′der·er
noun

squan′der·ing·ly
adverb

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"squander." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 July 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Squander>.

APA Style

squander. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Squander

Verb

(third-person singular simple present squanders, present participle squandering, simple past and past participle squandered)

To waste, lavish, splurge; to spend lavishly or profusely; to dissipate.
To wander at random; to scatter.

Usage notes

Squander implies starting with many resources, such as great wealth, and then wasting them (using them up to little purpose or little effect), often ending with little. Particularly used in phrases such as “squander an opportunity" or “squander an inheritance". It may be used even if one starts with little, though usually in some construction such as “squander what little he had".

Origin

Compare Danish skvÃ¦tte (rare)/skvatte (“to splash") (nominalised: skvÃ¦t), Icelandic skvetta (“to squirt"), Norwegian bokmÃ¥l skvette.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.