How to Use spent in a Sentence

spent

adjective
  • Found near her bones was a spent bullet that matched Kimball's gun.
    — Harold Dow, CBS News, 15 June 2024
  • Turns out back in the day, pancakes were often just a way to use up old, spent bread starter.
    — Julia O'Malley, Anchorage Daily News, 27 June 2018
  • The prophets of doom are right; the auto show is fast becoming a spent force.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 24 Nov. 2019
  • The spent water then returns to the surface pond, ready for the next cycle.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 31 May 2024
  • But the issue of debris has moved beyond spent rocket stages.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 25 May 2022
  • These are the tools where your money is actually well spent.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Apr. 2026
  • To prevent it from reseeding, make sure to cut branches with spent blooms.
    — Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 16 Apr. 2026
  • Water lingers in pools below sheer cliffs and in glassy rivulets flush with spent cottonwood leaves.
    — Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 11 Feb. 2022
  • Not long ago, Merkel was considered a spent force, having announced that this would be her last term.
    — Katrin Bennhold, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Apr. 2020
  • Sure, said Grejo, flinging the spent syringe into the fire.
    — Jonathan Miles, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
  • But we were clearly attracted to each other and spent time talking outside of class.
    — Annie Lane, oregonlive, 4 Jan. 2022
  • Family and friends spent days trying to contact Eastman, to no avail.
    — Chris Harris, PEOPLE.com, 3 July 2018
  • By the summer of 2017, the Left Trolls were mostly a spent force.
    — Casey Newton, The Verge, 11 Aug. 2018
  • On the day of the crash, Burley and six other team members first spent hours gathering evidence from the crash site.
    — Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2018
  • Remove the spent flowering spikes so the plant can direct its energy toward new growth and eventual blooms.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 2 Feb. 2026
  • Authorities said the spent bullet recovered from the autopsy matched to the firearm.
    — Bill Lukitsch, Kansas City Star, 27 Jan. 2024
  • The mother was glamorous and reveled in parties and travel; the daughter was bookish and spent hours alone playing Bach on the piano.
    — Matthew Dalton, WSJ, 22 Sep. 2017
  • At the home, officers found a spent bullet casing on the basement stairs – alleging Ramsey shot down at Spears.
    — Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026
  • Conventional wisdom describes the Green Movement as a spent force, citing the lack of mass demonstrations over the past year and half.
    — Michael Ledeen, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2012
  • Days are slower, spent reading, swimming in Lake Zurich or traveling with her partner to places like Brazil and Australia.
    — Mike Winters tasia Jensen, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2025
  • According to the report, detectives eventually found a spent bullet casing outside in the driveway.
    — Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 15 Dec. 2025
  • The squad also presents families with three spent rifle cartridges representing the three volleys fired in recognition of their veteran’s service.
    — Addison Wright, Chicago Tribune, 24 May 2026
  • The puzzle-like slats holding the barrel together, called staves, are often used in his creations, incorporated into cocktail muddlers and cigar rests, not to mention a recent life-size buffalo made from the spent barrel pieces.
    — Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 June 2026
  • Deadheading is generally not necessary, however removing spent blooms may encourage additional flowering.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 4 May 2026

Some of 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.

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