nickel-and-dime vs spend

nickel-and-dime is an adjective but spend is not an adjective.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
nickel-and-dime	No	Yes	Yes	No
spend	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, spend is a hypernym of nickel-and-dime; that is, spend is a word with a broader meaning than nickel-and-dime:

Other hypernyms of nickel-and-dime include drop, expend.

nickel-and-dime (adjective)	spend (adjective)
low-paying
of minor importance

nickel-and-dime (verb)	spend (verb)
accumulate gradually	pay out
spend money frugally; spend as little as possible	spend completely
	use up a period of time in a specific way