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squander

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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Earliest uses (late 16th c.) "to spend recklessly or prodigiously", also "to scatter over a wide area". Of unknown origin. Perhaps ablend ofscatter +‎wander.

CompareDanishskvætte(rare)/skvatte(“to splash”) (nominalised:skvæt),Icelandicskvetta(“to squirt”),Swedishskvätta(“to splash”),Norwegian Bokmålskvette.^[1]

Pronunciation

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(UK)IPA^(key): /ˈskwɒnd.ə/,[ˈskwɒnd.ə]
(US)IPA^(key): /ˈskwɑn.dɚ/,[ˈskʷɑn.dɚ]
Audio(Southern England): (file)
Rhymes:-ɒndə(ɹ)

Verb

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squander (third-person singular simple presentsquanders,present participlesquandering,simple past and past participlesquandered)

Towaste,lavish,splurge; to spend lavishly or profusely; todissipate.
Synonyms:waste,lavish,splurge,throw away,makeducks and drakes of,playducks and drakes with
- 1746, Benjamin Franklin,Poor Richard's Almanac^[2]
  Dost thou love life? Then do notsquander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.
- 2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, inBBC Sport‎^[1]:
  As the game opened up, Boltonsquandered a fine opportunity to equalise -Chris Eagles shooting straight atSzczesny - but then back came Arsenal.
(obsolete) Toscatter; todisperse.
- 1681,John Dryden,The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson andJacob Tonson, […],→OCLC, Act I,page 2:
  […]ourſquander’d Troops he rallies:[…]
(obsolete) To wander at random; to scatter.
- c.1598–1600 (date written),William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene vii],page193, column 1:
  […]The Wiſe-mans folly is anathomiz’d / Euen byſquandring glances of the foole.

Usage notes

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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”.