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

“No expense is going to be spared fighting this case, and it will be fought by some very talented and well-resourced people.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

If the approach can be translated to people, it could remove much of the manufacturing, expense, and delay that currently limits access to CAR-T therapy.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

Malaysia dropped off the calendar because the government there was no longer willing to pay the rights fee, feeling that the expense did not justify the return.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

But the actual expense could be much higher if the person has significant health issues and must pay a portion each time they see a doctor or get treatment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Fortunately, however, the penguins’ food had stopped being an expense to them.

From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater

Farm bankruptcies jumped 46 percent from 2024 to 2025, with the Midwest outpacing other regions, on lower revenue and rising expenses.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

He also feuded with the person who signs the checks for union expenses, Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

There, rising expenses are squeezing voters while data centers spark backlash.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

It pegged the net purchase price at about $3.85 billion, less estimated price adjustments including allocations of certain revenues and expenses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Those various expenses came to about $4,000 a year; the $1,000 left over was for Ellsworth’s management.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

The company also expects to receive $126 million in pretax tariff refunds for trade duties expensed this year and last.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

The largest spend is on the equipment that fills data centers, which gets expensed over 5½ years in Meta’s case.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025

Asked why he expensed Uber rides when he had a take-home car provided by the union, he said the rides were for members doing union business.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 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

That 100% expensing provision was restored and made permanent last year.

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

In fact, we estimate permanent expensing for short-lived investments and R&D will lift long-run gross domestic product by 0.7% as investment grows.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 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