the price paid to acquire, produce, accomplish, or maintain anything.
the high cost of a good meal.
an outlay or expenditure of money, time, labor, trouble, etc..
What will the cost be to me?
a sacrifice, loss, or penalty.
to work at the cost of one's health.
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.
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.
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
(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
What is a basic definition of cost? 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.
What does cost- mean? 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.
See price.
First recorded in 1200–50; (verb) Middle English costen, from Anglo-French, Old French co(u)ster, from Latin constāre “to stand together, be settled, cost”; cf. constant; (noun) Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French, noun derivative of the verb
The cost of something is how much money you need to spend on it. The high cost of a fancy coffee drink might surprise you. A new car costs thousands of dollars, while in some places penny candy still only costs a penny per piece. Cost also means "cause a loss," as when a bad fumble costs your favorite football team the game, or your brother's cheating on a test costs him the respect of his favorite teacher. The Old French cost meant "outlay, expenditure, hardship, or trouble," from the Latin root constare, "to stand at or to cost."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sure enough, though, the longer the show went on, the more all the concerns about the cost, about geopolitics, and the sweltering conditions in Florida in July just melted away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
The council said it expected the levy to raise somewhere in the region of £10m per year, depending on discounts and exemptions, with an estimated set-up cost of between £3m and £5m.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
A four-year-long investigation by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission — a panel of international experts and prominent figures — concluded in 2023 that it would cost $12 billion to clean up Bayelsa state.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Such payments would cost Paramount more than $7 million a day, which Kessler called a “massive injury.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Reluctantly, Foley, Simosi, and their teams concluded that the cost of extracting these statues would be prohibitive.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
"It's at no cost- she has no legal aid," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
This session, he chaired the Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee, modeled after Elon Musk’s federal cost- and service-cutting committee, and helped establish a Texas Cyber Command, one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s emergency priorities.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2025
The researchers noted that existing computational methods are cost- and time-intensive.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2024
"We are not going to negotiate a contract that is cost- neutral or with concessions," Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien said in a statement late on Monday.
From Reuters ● Apr. 17, 2023
Relying on information polled from hundreds of middle-class non-churchgoers, some enterprising ministers came up with a product bound to please: nothing boring or aggressive; cost- efficiency; comfortable seating; no organ.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai
If they accepted the lower offer they would be out of pocket but if they refused there would be costs too.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Clayton Antitrust Act, a 112-year-old law to prevent mergers that weaken competition and raise costs for consumers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Like most of China's offerings, it costs less and uses source code that programmers can customize.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
It has also become more popular to use cheaper models for less critical tasks—allowing companies to save on token costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The costs of frequent flights into space were judged to be too high to continue with government-sponsored shuttles.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter said some of his plans had been costed.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
An official process looking at whether the proposed area met the criteria for a national park was run by Natural Resources Wales between 2022-25, and costed approximately £700,000 a year.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
She said customers were left "really angry" and a repaint would have costed hundreds of pounds.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025
He said crime costed the British economy £170bn, adding: "It isn't really a question of can we afford to do this - it is really a question of can we afford not to do this?"
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2025
“Don’t see how. When my daddy died last year this April it costed one hundred and fifty dollars. ’
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
A child with Laron syndrome needs at least three bottles per month, costing $2,400, Dr Guevara explains.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Read: Can China just steal America’s AI brain that’s costing trillions to develop?
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Lauer said Giftory's roughly 30 employees get a premium AI subscription costing about $200 a month -- "peanuts" stacked against an average salary of $100,000 a year, and cheap enough to make offshoring "uncompetitive."
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Their unobtrusive placement complements their immersive musicality, hitherto only possible outdoors with high-end earphones or headphones connected to sophisticated digital acoustic conversion equipment costing a bundle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
"It could end up costing hundreds by the time we get there."
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
