marginal cost

American  

noun

Economics.

1. the cost of one additional unit of any item produced or bought in quantity.

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marginal cost Cultural  

1. The change in total cost of production when an output is varied by one unit.

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Etymology

Origin of marginal cost

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

marginal cost

The Congressional Research Service estimated that shipboard, solid-state lasers can fire at a marginal cost between $1 and $10 per shot.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026

And in this case, the marginal cost of each ticket is small – there are not even any very substantial overheads to cover, which often justify a higher price.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026

“The marginal cost of production in many Gulf states is very low and in some cases below $20 per barrel,” said Neil Shearing, chief economist at Capital Economics in London.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Beijing is effectively trying to lower the marginal cost of child rearing while nudging households toward more confident spending across a cluster of family-oriented categories.

From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026

The marginal cost of producing twenty-three and twenty-two hundredths grains of gold will always be a dollar, however the dollar may vary in value.

From The Value of Money by Anderson, Benjamin M.