▪ I. † spender1 Obs.
In 4 spendere, 5 -are.
[Aphetic form of de-, dispender.]
A steward.
| 1340 Ayenb. 190 He..het his desspendoure þet he him yeaue uyftene pond of gold. Þe spendere be his couaytise ne yeaf bote vyf. Ibid., Þo he clepede his spendere and him acsede hou moche he hedde y-yeue to þe kniȝte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 468/2 Spendare, dispensator. |
▪ II. spender2
(ˈspɛndə(r))
Also 4 spendour, 5 -are.
[f. spend v.1 + -er1. Cf. MDu. spender, OHG. spentâri, -eri (MHG. spendære, -iere, G. spender).]
1. One who spends; spec. one who spends lavishly or wastefully, a spendthrift.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vi. 28 An ydel man þow semest, A spendour þat spende mot oþer a spille-tyme. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xvi. (Bodl. MS.), He is a greete spender of his lordes good and catel. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 468/2 Spendare in waast, prodigus. c 1450 Myrr. our Ladye 114 Ye saye that she ys a prudente and a ware spender and dysposer of goodes. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 62 Ye are calde..to great a spender. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poet. (Arb.) 42 They would let so vnprofitable a spender starue. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 200 Of Spenders there are two sorts, some are Prodigall, some Liberall. 1670 Moral State Eng. 90 She is commonly a most extravagant spender. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 118 An industrious..man..is richer in my eye than a spender with thousands. 1844 Emerson Lect., Young Amer. Wks. (Bohn) II. 302 Money is of no value, it cannot spend itself. All depends on the skill of the spender. 1883 American VI. 217 Very rich men in England are much freer spenders than they are here. |
| prov. 1596 Bell Surv. Popery i. ii. iv. 84 After great getters come great spenders. 1611 Cotgr., Mal soupe qui tout disne, of a young spender comes an old beggar. 1629 Gaule Holy Madn. 438 After a great Getter, then commonly comes a Spender. 1635 J. Gore Way to Well-doing 25 A good sparer makes a good spender. 1639 J. Clarke Paræmiol. 262 Great spenders are bad lenders. |
| transf. 1611 Chapman Widdowes T. Wks. 1873 III. 7 My former suites have been all spenders, this shall be my speeder. 1656 Davenant Siege Rhodes 1st Entry, They Stewards are, Without accompt, to that wild Spender, War. |
2. One who, or that which, consumes, employs, or uses up; a consumer or waster of something.
| 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Consumptor, a spender, consumer, or waster. 1600 Sir W. Cornwallis Essays xviii. L j b, I will put away this sleepy Humour, for it is an extreame spender. 1675 H. Woolley Gentlw. Comp. 85 Queen Elizabeth..was pleased to term Plays the harmless Spenders of time. 1704 Swift Mech. Operat. Spir. in Tale Tub 296 To prevent Perspiration, than which nothing is observed to be a greater Spender of Mechanick Light. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Spender, a consumer. A ‘small spender’ is a person who has very little appetite. |
3. Tanning. A pit in which the bark is leached. Also attrib. in spender pit.
| 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 382/2 The method of leaching commonly adopted in the United Kingdom is to pass the bark through a series of leachers or spender pits. 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather iv. (ed. 2) 61 When the material in No. 1 is spent, it is cast and filled with fresh bark, and becomes the best leach,..No. 2 becoming the spender. |