he plopped down in his chair, completely spent, and then fell asleep
Recent Examples on the WebThe spent water then returns to the surface pond, ready for the next cycle.—IEEE Spectrum, 31 May 2024 The air smells burnt, heavy with the stench of gunpowder and the propellant of spent munitions.—Claire Harbage, NPR, 4 Apr. 2024 Authorities said the spent bullet recovered from the autopsy matched to the firearm.—Bill Lukitsch, Kansas City Star, 27 Jan. 2024 Don’t cut its woody branches; only trim the spent green stems, which will encourage more pretty blooms.—Karen Hugg, Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2024 Most brides never see the volunteer army that spends hours stooped over bushes and reaching into thorny climbers, cutting away all the spent blooms and dead leaves in the Laura Conyers Smith Municipal Rose Garden.—Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 30 Jan. 2024 Deadhead the spent blooms to encourage more flowering and maintain a tidier-looking plant.—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 25 Jan. 2024 Discontinuing the use of feeding stations, however, could increase the chances of condors dying of lead poisoning from spent ammunition left in the carcasses of hunted animals such as ground squirrels and coyotes.—Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times, 5 May 2023 So, replacing sand with spent coffee grounds could solve two ecological problems at once, since SCG are similarly fine particles.—Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 24 Aug. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from past participle of spenden to spend
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