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

High speed and power require a larger outlay in prime cost, in material and building, for the adequate resistance required by such power: III.

From Ocean Steam Navigation and the Ocean Post by Rainey, Thomas

Could not you manage so by your authority, that he should take them at prime cost?

From The Lawyers, A Drama in Five Acts by Iffland, Augustus William

It must always be remembered that the railway train, as against the motor, has the advantage that its wholesale traction reduces the prime cost by demanding only one engine for a great number of coaches.

From Anticipations Of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human life and Thought by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

Even if the prime cost be higher than that of ordinary market stock the extra outlay expended on animals from well-known breeders, and out of old established herds, is certain to prove a good investment.

From The Pig Breeding, Rearing, and Marketing by Spencer, Sanders