expense

American  

[ik-spens] / ɪkˈspɛns /

noun

• expenses
  plural

1. cost or charge.

   the expense of a good meal.

   Synonyms:

   expenditure, outlay

2. a cause or occasion of spending.

   A car can be a great expense.

3. the act of expending; expenditure.

4. expenses,

   1. charges incurred during a business assignment or trip.

   2. money paid as reimbursement for such charges.

      to receive a salary and expenses.

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verb (used with object)

• expenses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• expensed,
  past participle,  past
• expensing
  present participle

1. to charge or write off as an expense.

verb (used without object)

• expenses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• expensed,
  past participle,  past
• expensing
  present participle

1. to be expensed.

idioms

1. at the expense of, at the sacrifice of; to the detriment of.

   quantity at the expense of quality.

expense British  

/ ɪkˈspɛns /

noun

1. a particular payment of money; expenditure

2. money needed for individual purchases; cost; charge

3. (plural) incidental money spent in the performance of a job, commission, etc, usually reimbursed by an employer or allowable against tax

4. something requiring money for its purchase or upkeep

   the car was more of an expense than he had expected

5. to the detriment of

   he succeeded at the expense of his health

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verb

1. (tr) to treat as an expense for book-keeping or tax purposes

expense More Idioms  

1. see at the expense of; go to the trouble (expense); money (expense) is no object.

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Synonym Usage

See price.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preexpense
  noun
• expenseless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• expenses
  plural

Participles

• expensing
  present
• expensed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• expense
  simple
• expenses
  simple
• have expensed
  perfect
• has expensed
  perfect
• am expensing
  progressive
• are expensing
  progressive
• is expensing
  progressive
• have been expensing
  perfect progressive
• has been expensing
  perfect progressive

Past

• expensed
  simple
• had expensed
  perfect
• was expensing
  progressive
• were expensing
  progressive
• had been expensing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will expense
  simple
• will have expensed
  perfect
• will be expensing
  progressive
• will have been expensing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of expense

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin expēnsa, noun use of feminine of expēnsus, past participle of expendere “to weigh out, pay”; see expend

Explanation

An expense is a cost, but you can also use this word to mean the figurative cost of something. If you find it embarrassing to dress up as Santa, you might say that you do it to amuse your nephews, at the expense of your pride. When you give one thing up in order to get something else, its cost or sacrifice is the expense of getting what you want. You might worry that politicians want to cut taxes at the expense of schools that need money, or that oil companies increase drilling at the expense of the environment. The root of expense the Latin expendere, "to weigh out money or pay down."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

expense expenses expensed expensing

"The decarbonising industry should not come at the expense of nature," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Though the Hewlett-Packard board found Hurd didn’t violate the company’s policy regarding sexual harassment, it determined he had submitted inaccurate expense reports to conceal the relationship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

For Gen, those sacrifices come at the expense of joy.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

The difficulty and expense of the various alternatives increases “the attractiveness of a resource that’s already operating and producing clean energy around the clock,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Instead, his appearance was absurd—the empty tract of his chin was at the expense of a worried, overpopulated forehead.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Businesses are using AI to reduce labor and other expenses and to generate record profit margins that seem bulletproof.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

Health-insurance expenses now consume about 5% of the firm’s revenue—more than its profit margin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

In total, the government spent £98,442 on trips for Swinney, Todd and their officials to the US, including flights, hotels and expenses.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Every dollar the group nets from events after expenses goes to the charities it supports.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Eventually, things were smoothed out to the point where Tycho offered to pay Kepler’s moving expenses from Graz and assured him that the Emperor would come through with a paid position soon.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

A startup founder who expensed “cellulite butter” to the bank during her trial for defrauding the bank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Using a three-year depreciation schedule means that $300 million in data-center equipment gets expensed at $100 million a year.

From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025

“Edison will go to the California Utility Commission and say, ‘We need this money to be expensed in rates.’”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2025

But LaPierre conceded he wrongly expensed private flights for his family and accepted vacations from vendors doing business with the nonprofit gun rights organization without disclosing them.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024

There were at Athens various funds, applicable to public purposes; one of which, and among the most considerable, was appropriated for the expensed of sacrifices, processions, festivals, spectacles, and of the theatres.

From The Mirror Of Literature, Amusement, And Instruction Volume 14, No. 391, September 26, 1829 by Various

Zion Research Group, which specializes in accounting and taxes, estimates the latest 100% expensing provision was worth $31.8 billion last year to Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Oracle combined, relative to the expiring provision.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Bodner was fired after expensing a Super Bowl platter, complete with deli meats, cookies and Buffalo wings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

They should improve upon the investment provisions in the tax act by making all the expensing provisions permanent, for instance.

From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026

That stimulus includes tax refunds, 100% expensing of business investment, mortgage-backed securities purchases and financial deregulation, they noted.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026

By being placed in the centre of the clearing, an assault could not be made without expensing the assailants, and the spring always assured to the garrison the great requisite, water.

From Wyandotte by James Fenimore Cooper

Related Words

• amount
• budget
• charge
• consumption
• debt
• expenditure
• insurance
• investment
• liability
• loan
• loss
• mortgage
• obligation
• outlay
• payroll
• price
• price tag
• rate
• risk
• spending