direct cost

American  

noun

1. a cost that can be related directly to the production of a product or to a particular function or service.

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Etymology

Origin of direct cost

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

direct cost

The Pentagon publicly puts the direct cost of Operation Epic Fury at roughly $29 billion so far, mostly for munitions and equipment replacement.

From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026

A more direct cost of new bans would be to cut off a pipeline of potential users who would stick with the app as adults.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026

The average direct cost to consumer households is approximately $2,400, according to estimates.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2025

With that in hand, they approached attorneys general in multiple states and made a compelling offer: hire them, at no direct cost to taxpayers, and recoup millions of dollars Centene had already set aside.

From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024

There is not only the direct cost of unloading, transferring, and re-loading parcels from one express company to another—and at many points express offices and yards are the width of an entire city apart.

From The Express Companies of the United States A Study of a Public Utility by Benedict, Bert