expendable
[ik-spen-duh-buh l]
- 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.
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- Usually expendables. an expendable person or thing.
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Origin of expendable
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for expendable
Contemporary Examples
Because when it comes to The Expendables franchise, no plot is expendable.
“They (critics of reform) think these people are expendable,” says Simpson.
To put it bluntly: it often leads to making everything else a secondary—that is, expendable—issue.
The real danger lies in the implication that the freedom and dignity of Jews in the diaspora is somewhat of an expendable asset.
"As a result, he treats workers as expendable resources without taking into account their contributions," Stone writes.
Jeff Bezos’s Dad Was a Circus Performer and 5 More Juicy Bits From the Tell-All BookNina Strochlic
October 11, 2013
Historical Examples
There are too many imponderables: you are, to a certain degree, expendable.
A Place in the SunC.H. Thames
I know you hate to burn up a ship, but this one is supposed to be expendable.
Unwise ChildGordon Randall Garrett
If we're caught, who knows better than we that we're expendable?
SubversiveDallas McCord Reynolds
Hoskins goes, because of all of us, the Engineer is most expendable.
Breaking PointJames E. Gunn
In attempting to avert that tragedy I'm expendable, as is everyone else here.
Planet of the DamnedHarry Harrison
expendable
- that may be expended or used up
- not essential; not worth preserving
- able to be sacrificed to achieve an objective, esp a military one
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- something that is expendable
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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
Word Origin and History for expendable
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper