expendable

[ ik-spen-duh-buh l ]

/ ɪkˈspɛn də bəl /

adjective

capable of being expended.

(of an item of equipment or supply) consumed in use or not reusable.

considered to be not worth keeping or maintaining.

Military. (of personnel, equipment, or supplies) capable of being sacrificed in order to accomplish a military objective.

noun

Usually expendables. an expendable person or thing.

Words nearby expendable

expellant, expellee, expeller, expellers, expend, expendable, expenditure, expense, expense account, expensive, experience

Origin of expendable

First recorded in 1795–1805; expend + -able

OTHER WORDS FROM expendable

ex·pend·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·ex·pend·a·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for expendability

Ivy, after ten years in Interstel, you should know that experience and expendability are synonymous.
Attrition|Jim Wannamaker

British Dictionary definitions for expendability

expendable

/ (ɪkˈspɛndəbəl) /

adjective

that may be expended or used up

not essential; not worth preserving

able to be sacrificed to achieve an objective, esp a military one

noun

something that is expendable

Derived forms of expendable

expendability, noun

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