Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The UAE’s relaxing of fuel subsidies in 2015, which had been costing the government billions of dollars, put the country at the forefront of long-delayed fiscal reforms in the region as oil prices slumped.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 11, 2022

The two hundred no-show positions were eliminated, but, according to a senior project manager, they had been costing a thousand dollars a day each for an unknown number of years.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 2, 2018

“Thus the lease turned a building that had been costing taxpayers millions of dollars per year into a revenue-generating asset,” Terry wrote.

From Washington Post • Mar. 23, 2017

Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia, took over a solid-waste disposal program that had been costing taxpayers $1 million a year.

From Time Magazine Archive

She struck him as making light of a matter that had been costing him sundry qualms; so that they couldn't both be quite just.

From The Wings of the Dove, Volume II by James, Henry