prime cost

American  

noun

1. that part of the cost of a commodity deriving from the labor and materials directly utilized in its manufacture.

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prime cost British  

noun

1. Also called: variable cost.  the portion of the cost of a commodity that varies directly with the amount of it produced, principally comprising materials and labour Compare overheads

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Etymology

Origin of prime cost

First recorded in 1710–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prime cost

Labor is indeed a prime cost factor in an industry that has never been able to mechanize to any great extent.

From Time Magazine Archive

The result is that the prime cost is very great, and this forces the city to charge the merchants high rents, and the consumer has to pay for it.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 488, May 9, 1885 by Various

A linen-draper having advertised his stock to be sold under prime cost, a neighbor observed that, "It was impossible, as he had never paid a farthing for it himself."

From The Jest Book The Choicest Anecdotes and Sayings by Mark Lemon

In all such cases the prime cost increases immensely, and to an extent that would hardly be credited by those not practically familiar with the subject.

From Ocean Steam Navigation and the Ocean Post by Thomas Rainey

The exportation of, subjected to a duty higher than the prime cost of, at the pit, 273.

From An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Germain Garnier