Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To spend less than.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To spend less than.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To not spend funds appropriated or allocated.
  • noun An amount by which an allocated amount is not expended.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb spend at less than the normal rate
  • verb spend less than the whole of (a budget, for example)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

under- +‎ spend

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Examples

  • The financial report presented to Tuesday's meeting pointed out that the term underspend includes both reduced spending and/or increased income.

    Whitehaven News headlines 2009

  • Oh … and whilst I bang on …. .at my station last week we were told that Area HQ had found £1,000,000 in underspend and we could make a request/application for new equipment.

    Police Pay Award (Lose the smiles) « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2007

  • It's common practice for organisations with a budget to make sure they use it to the hilt because they know that an 'underspend' will automatically result in a smaller budget the following year.

    Quango chief's dilemma: how best to spend a spare £1m? 2011

  • If the 'underspend' is the result of good practice (ie greater efficiency, smarter use of the money etc.) then there may be an argument for rewarding good practice by encouraging the organisation to use the remainder imaginatively (thus fuelling blue skies etc.) and furthermore if they are lambasted for an 'underspend' then there is no encouragement to either work more efficiently or take care of their budget etc.

    Quango chief's dilemma: how best to spend a spare £1m? 2011

  • However, with the headline increases just announced, it will be more difficult to push their "underspend" mantra, when funds are increasing in real terms and Cameron has yet to sanction any increased spending on the forces.

    Archive 2007-07-01 Richard 2007

  • The Europeans "underspend" on defense not just because the American guarantee allowed them to enter a garden of Perpetual Peace, [15] but because in the third quarter of this century they chose to devote a lot of money to expensive (and very popular) public services.

    Its Own Worst Enemy Judt, Tony 2002

  • It's common practice for organisations with a budget to make sure they use it to the hilt because they know that an 'underspend' will automatically result in a smaller budget the following year.

    The Guardian World News Nicholas Watt 2011

  • If the 'underspend' is the result of good practice (ie greater efficiency, smarter use of the money etc.) then there may be an argument for rewarding good practice by encouraging the organisation to use the remainder imaginatively (thus fuelling blue skies etc.) and furthermore if they are lambasted for an 'underspend' then there is no encouragement to either work more efficiently or take care of their budget etc.

    The Guardian World News Nicholas Watt 2011

  • A one million pound underspend of a 2.2bn pound budget = 0.05% rounded up.

    Quango chief's dilemma: how best to spend a spare £1m? 2011

  • In the email, leaked to the Daily Mail, Cahn said: The FCO is heading for an underspend and wants to get money out of the door.

    Quango chief's dilemma: how best to spend a spare £1m? 2011

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