price
noun
the sum or amount of money or its equivalent for which anything is bought, sold, or offered for sale.
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price
1 American
[prahys]
/ praɪs /
noun
-
prices
plural
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the sum or amount of money or its equivalent for which anything is bought, sold, or offered for sale.
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a sum offered for the capture of a person alive or dead.
The authorities put a price on his head.
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the sum of money, or other consideration, for which a person's support, consent, etc., may be obtained, especially in cases involving sacrifice of integrity.
They claimed that every politician has a price.
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that which must be given, done, or undergone in order to obtain a thing.
He gained the victory, but at a heavy price.
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odds.
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Archaic. value or worth.
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Archaic. great value or worth (usually preceded byof ).
verb (used with object)
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prices,
present (3rd person singular)
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priced,
past participle, past
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pricing
present participle
-
to fix the price of.
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to ask or determine the price of.
We spent the day pricing furniture at various stores.
idioms
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at any price, at any cost, no matter how great.
Their orders were to capture the town at any price.
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beyond / without price, of incalculable value; priceless.
The crown jewels are beyond price.
Price
2
American
[prahys]
/ praɪs /
noun
-
Bruce, 1845–1903, U.S. architect.
-
(Edward) Reynolds, 1933–2011, U.S. novelist.
-
(Mary) Leontyne born 1927, U.S. soprano.
-
a male given name.
price
British
/ praɪs /
noun
-
the sum in money or goods for which anything is or may be bought or sold
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the cost at which anything is obtained
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the cost of bribing a person
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a sum of money offered or given as a reward for a capture or killing
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value or worth, esp high worth
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gambling another word for odds
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whatever the price or cost
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at a high price
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invaluable or priceless
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what someone deserves, esp a fitting punishment
it's just the price of him
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what are the chances of something happening now?
verb
-
to fix or establish the price of
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to ascertain or discover the price of
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to charge so highly for as to prevent the sale, hire, etc, of
price
More Idioms
Synonym Usage
Price, charge, cost, expense refer to outlay or expenditure required in buying or maintaining something. Price is used mainly of single, concrete objects offered for sale; charge, of services: What is the price of that coat? There is a small charge for mailing packages. Cost is mainly a purely objective term, often used in financial calculations: The cost of building a new annex was estimated at $10,000. Expense suggests cost plus incidental expenditure: The expense of the journey was more than the contemplated cost. Only charge is not used figuratively. Price, cost, and sometimes expense may be used to refer to the expenditure of mental energy, what one “pays” in anxiety, suffering, etc.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pricesimple
-
pricessimple
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have pricedperfect
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has pricedperfect
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am pricingprogressive
-
are pricingprogressive
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is pricingprogressive
-
have been pricingperfect progressive
-
has been pricingperfect progressive
Past
-
pricedsimple
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had pricedperfect
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was pricingprogressive
-
were pricingprogressive
-
had been pricingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of price
First recorded in 1175–1225; (noun) Middle English pris(e), from Old French, Latin pretium “price, value, worth” ( cf. precious); (verb) late Middle English prisen, from Middle French prisier, derivative of pris, Old French as above; see prize 2, praise
Explanation
The price of something is how much it costs. It’s usually money, but sometimes not. For example, the price of staying up all night is that you’re really sleepy the next day. Wake up! You can use the noun price to mean the money exchanged for an item or service — or use it figuratively, to mean "something negative that's required in exchange for something positive." If you hear the phrase "a small price to pay," think of this figurative meaning. You could say, for example, that having clouds of pet hair all over your house is a small price to pay for your wonderful cat.
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.
See Examples For:
Seaport has a series of charts it produces, comparing the three-month change in earnings-per-share expectations to three-month price moves, to identify companies with “justified” and “unjustified” moves.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
RBC starts coverage on Roche with an outperform recommendation and a target price of 400 Swiss francs.Shares fall 0.8% to 347.70 francs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The producer price index increased 0.4% last month, the government said Thursday.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
It raises the stock’s target price to 0.71 Singapore dollar from S$0.70 with an unchanged hold rating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Tante Jans had bought most of the clothing for us three girls since coming to live with us, but her gifts had a price.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Prof Pat Price, a leading UK clinical academic oncologist, says the government targets "are now simply impossible to hit", after what she describes as a "complete loss of momentum".
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Price Play: Here’s how Amazon’s ‘secret’ ad pricing system worked, according to the FTC.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
Today, the federal-funds rate is roughly comparable to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Thornton’s credits include “The Price Is Right,” “The Soup,” “Jeopardy!” and “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
“You reckon we ought to start?” asked Sister Price doubtfully, after a pause.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
Wholesale prices had been basically unchanged in the prior two months after a brief lull in the U.S.-Iran conflict resulted in cheaper oil.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
The company’s integrated gas business continues to benefit from rising gas prices and low European inventories, Barclays analyst Lydia Rainforth writes after hosting Pouyanne at the Barclays Energy-Power Conference.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
He credited the artificial-intelligence build-out as well as the growing need for energy, even excluding the run-up in oil prices due to the war in Iran.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Wholesale costs in the U.S. jumped again in August, flogged by higher gasoline prices, in the first of two inflation reports that will dictate if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates next week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Stories about these three lovely American mediums appeared in hundreds of America’s newspapers right alongside reports of crime, crop prices, and ads for woodstoves.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Fife Council has said finding reasonably priced housing in St Andrews is a "major challenge" and has put in measures such as quotas of affordable housing in new developments to try and help.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
It is priced starting at $1,999, slightly more than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
Also collecting: inflation-linked bonds, especially European ones still priced as if the shock washes out.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Most of the watches were quartz and priced below 1,000 Swiss francs, or about $1,230 at current exchange rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
“We’ll go into town to see if there is any decently priced ube in the market. I know Father Amadi likes ube, and we have some com at home to go with it.”
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
It points out the industry is 57% through the Default Market Offer period for pricing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Jim Reid, of Deutsche Bank, said all of the latest developments have “left investors growing more concerned about further disruption and pricing a longer period of high energy prices.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Futures markets are pricing in a 99.7% probability that the European Central Bank will tighten monetary policy by 25 basis points to 2.5% when it meets Thursday.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
The charity has also urged the NI Executive to introduce minimum unit pricing on alcohol and restrictions on less healthy food and drink promotions.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
“We have several bays free, so there’s no waiting. Package pricing information is displayed right here.”
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
