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
-
the sum or amount of money or its equivalent for which anything is bought, sold, or offered for sale.
-
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)
-
priced,
past participle, past
-
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
-
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
-
to ascertain or discover the price of
-
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
-
have pricedperfect
-
has pricedperfect
-
am pricingprogressive
-
are pricingprogressive
-
is pricingprogressive
-
have been pricingperfect progressive
-
has been pricingperfect progressive
Past
-
pricedsimple
-
had pricedperfect
-
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:
Di Matteo had spectacularly guided the Blues to FA Cup and Champions League success as caretaker boss six months earlier, but paid the price for a poor start in the defence of their European title.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Because of the former, a dollar of revenue translates into higher earnings, and because of the latter a dollar of earnings translates into a higher stock price.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
The state and the public have paid a heavy price.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
For those who said costs were up, the most common reasons were the price of food shopping, fuel and energy bills.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
“And bilharzia spread, and water weeds came—when they started messing with the river! There’s always a price for tampering with nature.”
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Analyst Nigel Pittaway says Daiichi Life’s offer is just 18% above the one-month Volume-Weighted Average Price and 20% above Challenger’s closing price on Friday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
As a member of both, Price has a lot to say about the relationship between MYD and DSA.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026
Anglesey topped the chart with a 22% annual rise, but 17 of Wales' 22 local authority areas saw price increases, the Wales House Price Index said.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
Jackson’s remains were found with clothing and shoes that were in fashion during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Price said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Being the new Chef Boy-ar-dee of the Price family, I had no time for fun and games.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Hybrids have become more popular as gas prices have climbed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Portuguese police again cleared tents set up by protesters against skyrocketing housing prices overnight Sunday, with organisers criticising the brutality of the officers involved.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
If expectations for additional Fed rate hikes lead investors to reassess credit risk, spreads could widen further, pushing implied volatility higher and putting downward pressure on equity prices.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
They estimated that prices for these items, which make up a much larger share of household budgets among the nonwealthy, would have fallen on average by 1% over the year without the tariffs.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
“They were just assuming home prices would keep going up,” says Eisman.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Without any guidance, markets pushed interest rates on longer-term Treasurys significantly higher, with the 10-year yield rising to 5.3%, as the market priced in an aggressive Fed with a rate hike in October.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
Shares of T-Mobile, AT&T, and others look attractively priced.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
"There's no real precedent for how a public company like Tesla gets priced in this," Sheehan said.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
SpaceX’s initial public offering in June was priced at $135 a share, and the stock zoomed to above $225 in the days following the company’s market debut.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
She had found a stack of sticky notes and priced items anywhere from one cent to three hundred thousand dollars.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
If Warsh signals that financial conditions haven’t tightened enough, it could reinforce expectations for additional rate hikes, resulting in the market pricing in more rate hikes than expected, and interest rates rising.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
He is not the first musician to raise concerns over ticket pricing.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
FICO’s pricing compares with the roughly $4 it costs for mortgage lenders to pull a credit score using VantageScore, according to the credit bureau TransUnion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
The Bank of Canada announces an interest-rate decision on Wednesday, with markets pricing an 81% chance of a 25 basis-point hike in the key rate to 2.50%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
