expense
[ik-spens]
- cost or charge: the expense of a good meal.
- a cause or occasion of spending: A car can be a great expense.
- the act of expending; expenditure.
- expenses,
- charges incurred during a business assignment or trip.
- money paid as reimbursement for such charges: to receive a salary and expenses.
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- to charge or write off as an expense.
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- to be expensed.
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- at the expense of, at the sacrifice of; to the detriment of: quantity at the expense of quality.
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Origin of expense
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin expēnsa, noun use of feminine of expēnsus, past participle of expendere to expend
Synonyms
See more synonyms for expense on Thesaurus.com1. outlay, expenditure. See price.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for expense
Contemporary Examples
As might be expected, this comes at the expense of narrative.
But the price of artistic freedom comes at the expense of professional protection.
Reconsidering Renée Zellweger: Forever a Hollywood-Pretty Character ActressTeo Bugbee
October 23, 2014
Unfortunately, that gamble was at the expense of Miss America's supposed mission.
The FDNY spot on the JTTF was among the items deemed no longer worth the expense in a time of budget cuts.
One of the reasons for this is because of its expense — only the very wealthy could afford, or were allowed, to wear red.
Historical Examples
It is computed that the expense would not exceed a million and a half sterling.
Mr. Disraeli was severely sarcastic at the expense of the government.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
You know, and yet you'll take your happiness at the poor child's expense.
Life and Death of Harriett FreanMay Sinclair
When had Nimble Dick lost an opportunity for fun at the expense of another?
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
They telegraphed from New York that we were to spare no expense; and we haven't.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
expense
- a particular payment of money; expenditure
- money needed for individual purchases; cost; charge
- (plural) incidental money spent in the performance of a job, commission, etc, usually reimbursed by an employer or allowable against tax
- something requiring money for its purchase or upkeepthe car was more of an expense than he had expected
- at the expense of to the detriment ofhe succeeded at the expense of his health
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- (tr) US and Canadian to treat as an expense for book-keeping or tax purposes
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Word Origin
C14: from Late Latin expēnsa, from Latin expēnsus weighed out; see expend
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 expense
n.
late 14c., from Anglo-French expense, Old French espense "money provided for expenses," from Late Latin expensa "disbursement, outlay, expense," noun use of neuter plural past participle of Latin expendere "to weigh out money, to pay down" (see expend).
Latin spensa also yielded Medieval Latin spe(n)sa, whose sense specialized to "outlay for provisions," then "provisions, food," which was borrowed into Old High German as spisa and is the root of German Speise "food," now mostly meaning prepared food, and speisen "to eat."
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v.
1909, from expense (n.). Related: Expensed; expensing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with expense
expense
see at the expense of; go to the trouble (expense); money (expense) is no object.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.