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

Their base case holds that the 2029 peak of $300,000 will be reached with a multiple of 1.25 marginal cost, and the $1 million 2033 peak via a multiple of 1.2 times.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

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

The fact that marginal cost pricing would lead to reselling, creating windfall profits for anyone lucky enough to get a rationed ticket, does not alter the principle.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026

But you can ask your kid to pay you the marginal cost of their presence in the plan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

The marginal cost represents the cost of building tagged text into the database, which is small.

From Library of Congress Workshop on Etexts by Library of Congress