Advertisement
Advertisement
cost
1[kawst, kost]
noun
the price paid to acquire, produce, accomplish, or maintain anything.
the high cost of a good meal.
Synonyms: , , ,an outlay or expenditure of money, time, labor, trouble, etc..
will the cost be to me?
a sacrifice, loss, or penalty.
to work at the cost of one's health.
Synonyms:Law.costs,
money allowed to a successful party in a lawsuit in compensation for legal expenses incurred, chargeable to the unsuccessful party.
money due to a court or one of its officers for services in a cause.
verb (used with object)
to require the payment of (money or something else of value) in an exchange.
That camera cost $200.
to result in or entail the loss of.
Carelessness costs lives.
to cause to lose or suffer.
The accident cost her a broken leg.
to entail (effort or inconvenience).
Courtesy costs little.
to cause to pay or sacrifice.
That request will cost us two weeks' extra work.
to estimate or determine the cost of (manufactured articles, new processes, etc.).
We have costed the manufacture of each item.
verb (used without object)
to estimate or determine costs, as of manufacturing something.
verb phrase
to calculate the cost of (a project, product, etc.) in advance.
The firm that hired him just costed out a major construction project last month.
cost-
2variant of costo- before a vowel.
costate.
cost
/ ɒ /
noun
the price paid or required for acquiring, producing, or maintaining something, usually measured in money, time, or energy; expense or expenditure; outlay
suffering or sacrifice; loss; penalty
count the cost to your health
I know to my cost
the amount paid for a commodity by its seller
to sell at cost
( as modifier )
the cost price
(plural) law the expenses of judicial proceedings
regardless of cost or sacrifice involved
at the expense of losing
verb
(tr) to be obtained or obtainable in exchange for (money or something equivalent); be priced at
the ride cost one pound
to cause or require the expenditure, loss, or sacrifice (of)
the accident cost him dearly
to estimate the cost of (a product, process, etc) for the purposes of pricing, budgeting, control, etc
Other Word Forms
- costless adjective
- costlessness noun
- recost verb (used with object)recost, recosting
- ˈDzٱ adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of cost1
Idioms and Phrases
at all costs, regardless of the effort involved; by any means necessary: Also at any cost.
The stolen painting must be recovered at all costs.
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Compared to factories in Asia, American staffing costs run roughly 10 to 12 times higher, he explains.
The province's education department explains that it often has to cover a shortfall in funding from the government - and schools in more middle-class areas turn to parents to cover the costs.
But behind the hope lies a growing wave of discontent, as complaints to the housing watchdog - over repairs, costs and selling - have soared.
The taxpayer cost of asylum hotels has rocketed in recent years, with total accommodation contracts now set to be worth £15.3bn over a 10-year period.
A rise in the cost of oil pushes up petrol and diesel prices and can fuel inflation more broadly.
Advertisement
When To Use
Cost means a price that must be paid for something or a sacrifice. Cost is used as a verb to mean to require a payment or to cause the loss of something. Cost has several other senses as a noun and a verb.Cost most often refers to a specific amount of money that a seller wants for the item they are selling. However, cost is also used more generally to mean whatever the price of an item is. If the price is high or expensive, it is said to be costly.
- Real-life examples: A pack of gum may have a cost of $1. The cost of a college education is usually very high. When a store is having a sale, it usually lowers the cost of the things it sells.
- Used in a sentence: The cost to repair the repair was unreasonably high.
- Real-life examples: The cost of staying up all night is usually being tired the next day. The cost of eating too much is often a stomachache. The cost of driving too fast is often a speeding ticket and sometimes a car accident.
- Used in a sentence: The demon offered him endless riches at the cost of his soul.
- Real-life examples: Stores will use price tags to tell customers how much items cost. A hotel in Monopoly costs four houses and some extra money. A parent may tell their child that a piece of cake costs a hug.
- Used in a sentence: The new computer costs $800.
- Real-life examples: Stress and a poor diet will cost a person their good health. Drunk driving will more than likely cost a person their driver’s license or worse. Succeeding at a job usually costs time and energy.
- Used in a sentence: His obsession with getting revenge cost him his job and his family.
When To Use
Cost- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “rib.” It is used in some medical terms, especially in anatomy and pathology.Cost- comes from the Latin costa, meaning “rib, side.” The word costa was borrowed directly into English as a term for a “rib,” among other senses. The Latin costa is also the source of the word coast. Explore more at our entry for coast.Cost- is a variant of costo-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels.Want to know more? Read our Words That Use costo- article.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse