Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste.
- v. To fail to take advantage of; lose a chance for: squandered an opportunity to go to college.
- v. Obsolete To scatter.
- n. Extravagant expenditure; prodigality.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To scatter; disperse.
- To spend lavishly, profusely, or prodigally; dissipate; use without economy or judgment; lavish: as, to squander one's money or an estate.
- To disperse; wander aimlessly; go at random.
- To waste one's substance; go to wasteful expense; spend recklessly.
- n. The act of squandering.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. obsolete To scatter; to disperse.
- v. To spend lavishly or profusely; to spend prodigally or wastefully; to use without economy or judgment; to dissipate.
- v. To spend lavishly; to be wasteful.
- v. rare To wander at random; to scatter.
- n. The act of squandering; waste.
WordNet 3.0
- v. spend thoughtlessly; throw away
- v. spend extravagantly
Etymologies
- Origin unknown. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Will we see Brown bite the bullet and push for this referendum, or will we see him once again squander the chance for proper reform, reform that the Liberal Democrat’s have been calling for well before the expense scandal?”
Are we going to miss the chance for proper reform?… « My Liberal Democrat Political Ramblings…
“To DW-S's mind, the economy is turning around, and now we have to worry that the new House majority will "squander" it.”
“That moment, the world was so on our side and we did kind of squander that.”
“I have finally gotten around to using the word "squander".”
“I was already sketching mental notes for my optimistic space exploration trilogy, so I didn't want to "squander" ideas for the novel by shoehorning them into a shorter piece.”
“Because, without us (the Good People), injury victims "squander" their personal injury settlements.”
“Bush cover-up of torture bad, Obama cover-up of torture a good and necessary measure to save precious American lives." now being warned by his generals not to "squander" with his plans for pulling out some troops and leaving behind tens of thousands of others:”
“Gordon Brown launched a new assault on excessive pay today with plans to name and shame bodies that "squander" public funds on huge salaries.”
“Of course he went on to squander the good will of the entire world while failing to catch all the people that attacked us, but at that time and in that place, I was proud that he was my President.”
“This hope and goodwill is the main thing that Egypt's transition process has going for it; it would be a terrible waste to squander it on shoddy, opaque preparation.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘squander’.
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
-
movement (fast)
words describing fast action or movement
( open list, randomness, descriptive )
related:
http://www.wordnik.com...hurry, run, scamper, skip, stride, stampede, trample, scramble, dart, spring, spin, sprint and 141 more...
-
2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
-
Squiddy
Squiddishiousness
squid, squidwarts, squarf, squiddity, squiddiddition, the id of the squid, squisk, squeep, squiddiddiddity, squiddie, squiddishious, squidnunc and 168 more...
-
GRE Study guide
Going through the Magoosh website, words I pulled from the verbal section. 2012.
magnanimous, correlate, anglicized, simulacrum, tantamount, obsequiousness, subterfuge, vehement, vociferous, benign, concomitant, veracity and 83 more...
-
ficciones's list
encyclopedic
imbroglio, splendour, brilliance, labyrinth, vast, precipice, ebb and flow, tidal, crevasse, resonate, redolent, prudent and 55 more...
-
Let's Talk About Family!
idiosyncrasy, acerbic, sardonic, mordant, aesthetics, prolific, discerning, eclectic, iconoclast, heterodox, disheveled, deplorable and 36 more...
-
gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
-
Go over
mollify, obstinate, obviate, occlude, onerous, obscure, paragon, pedantic, perfunctory, placate, placid, prodigal and 364 more...
-
MY COLLECTION
COLLECT FROM DIFFERENT PAPERS,WEBSITES,BOOKS AND MOVIES.
VAUDEVILLE, herbivores, BANDWAGON, PREY, squander, squabbling, Concierge, persuade, dethrone, cacophony, maize, ubiquitous and 98 more...
-
Hit Parade GRE
Princeton Review words
abscond, aberrant, alacrity, anomaly, approbation, arduous, assuage, audacious, austere, axiomatic, canonical, capricious and 287 more...
-
Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
-
Words
My list of words.
veritable, facetious, nadir, quixotic, apropos, acquiesce, ostensible, insipid, egregious, inveterate, coax, adroit and 409 more...
-
SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
-
newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
-
English
rewarding, wit, landmark, core, soar, drop, plunge, plummet, dive, level off, rocket, peak and 110 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for squander.

bilby "I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."
- George Best. Feb 16, 2009
ofravens I hurl my heart to halt his pace,
To quench his thirst I squander blood
from "Pursuit," by Sylvia Plath Apr 8, 2008
reesetee Also see squawk. Mar 14, 2008
oroboros Also what squids on squalkabout do. Mar 14, 2008
Prolagus Wasting time in squid-hunting, or paying too much for seafood. Mar 14, 2008