cost
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.
costs, Law.
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.
to estimate or determine costs, as of manufacturing something.
cost out, 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.
Idioms about cost
at all costs, regardless of the effort involved; by any means necessary: The stolen painting must be recovered at all costs.: Also at any cost.
Origin of cost
1synonym study For cost
Other words for cost
Other words from cost
- costless, adjective
- cost·less·ness, noun
- re·cost, verb (used with object), re·cost, re·cost·ing.
Other definitions for cost- (2 of 2)
variant of costo- before a vowel: costate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cost in a sentence
And in this instance that attitude costed somebody their life.
If fully costed, no one would prefer a Medicare policy to a private plan.
She already found where Louis Sen makes mistakes, which Gott weiss wie vile it costed us yet.
The Competitive Nephew | Montague GlassA hundred and twenty-five dollars the fiddle costed me and that's all I charge up.
Abe and Mawruss | Montague GlassWalkin' 'long—quite shober—sud'ly 'costed by man dressed like 'pleeceman.
The things that friend Brown Shiped to me by the Express costed $24-1/4.
The Underground Railroad | William StillShe's costed me a deal already, but she ain't got all the money.
British Dictionary definitions for cost
/ (kɒst) /
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
at any cost or at all costs regardless of cost or sacrifice involved
at the cost of 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
Origin of cost
1Derived forms of cost
- costless, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with cost
see arm and a leg, cost an; at all costs; pretty penny, cost a.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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