Meaning of cost in English

cost

noun

/kɒst/ us

/kɑːst/

cost noun (MONEY SPENT)

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A2 [ U ]

the amount of money needed to buy, do, or make something:

at no extra cost When you buy a new computer, you usually get software included at no extra cost.

cover the cost In most cases, two salaries are essential to cover the cost of (= pay for) raising a family.

cut the cost The supermarket chain announced that it was cutting the cost of all its fresh and frozen meat.

rising cost It's difficult for most people to deal with the rising cost of healthcare.

at cost I was able to buy the damaged goods at cost (= for only the amount of money needed to produce or obtain the goods, without any extra money added for profit).

costs [ plural ]

the amount of money needed for a business or to do a particular job:

cut costs We need to cut our advertising costs.

More examplesFewer examples

Whether or not we go to Spain for our holiday depends on the cost.
Do you agree with the principle that everyone should pay something towards the cost of healthcare?
The average cost of a new house has gone up by 5 percent to £76 500.
Their estimate of the cost of the project was wildly inaccurate.
My main concern about moving to London is the cost of housing.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Costs & expenses

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cost noun (SOMETHING LOST/GIVEN)

B2 [ S or U ]

something that is given, needed, or lost in order to get a particular thing:

cost in We were going to paint the house ourselves, but when we considered the cost in time and effort, we decided to get a painter to do it for us.

at the cost of The driver managed not to hit the child who ran in front of his car, but only at the cost of injuring himself.

personal cost She has finally got the job she wanted, but at great personal cost (= she has had to give up other things that were important to her).

learn something to your cost (also discover something to your cost, realize something to your cost, find something to your cost)

to learn or discover something because of an unpleasant or difficult experience:

It's not worth getting into an argument with Paula, as I learned to my cost.

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I didn't read the contract fully before I signed it but I'm counting the cost now.
Victory in the war was achieved at the cost of great human suffering.
He tried to fight for justice, but in the end the personal cost was too high.
She supported the refugees at great personal cost.
I discovered to my cost that he was a violent man.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Costs & expenses

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Idiom

at all costs

cost

verb [ T ]

/kɒst/ us

/kɑːst/

cost verb [T] (MONEY)

A2 cost | cost

If something costs an amount of money, you must pay that amount to buy or do it:

"How much does this book cost?" "It costs £25."

it costs something to do something It costs a lot to buy a house in this part of Sydney.

[ + two objects ] The trip will cost you $1,000.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to have a certain monetary value

costHiring a car for the week will cost close to £300!
beThe cakes were £1.50 each or two for £2.
sell forThe tickets sell for £100 each.
fetchThe medieval manuscript fetched a record-breaking £1.2 million at auction.
go for somethingHouses around here usually go for about £500,000.
set someone back (something)Phew, that ring looks like it set you back.

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costed | costed

(also cost sth out )

to calculate the cost of something:

My boss asked me to cost the materials for the new fence and gate.

cost something out They costed out the production of these special boxes and decided they were too expensive.

You're going to have to cost everything out before you start the project.

Has your plan been properly costed?

More examplesFewer examples

"How much will the trip cost?" "No more than £40."
Smaller cars have better mileage and so cost less to run.
The repairs to our car cost much more than we were expecting.
These shoes only cost £20.
The projected extension to the motorway near London is going to cost over £4 million.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Costs & expenses

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Accounting

Estimating value

cost verb [T] (DESTROY)

B2 cost | cost

to destroy or cause someone to lose something valuable:

cost lives Drinking and driving costs lives (= can cause accidents in which people die).

[ + two objects ] His affairs cost him his marriage (= his marriage ended because of them).

cost someone's life A single small mistake nearly cost him his life.

More examplesFewer examples

Alcoholism cost me my job, my health and finally my family.
Many of the fans believe that the omission of Heacock from the team cost England the match.
Ireland squandered several chances, including a penalty that cost them the game.
They won the war, but it cost millions of lives.
Writing the book cost me my job and my marriage.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Damaging and spoiling

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Idioms

cost someone dear
cost an arm and a leg/a small fortune
it'll cost you

(Definition of cost from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

cost | American Dictionary

cost

noun

/kɔst, kɑst/

cost noun (MONEY)

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[ C/U ]

the amount of money needed to buy, do, or make something, or an amount spent for something:

[ C ] Education costs continue to rise.

[ U ] Most computers come with software included at no extra cost.

[ U ] The area has both high-cost and low-cost housing.

[ C/U ]

law Costs is the money given to a person who wins a legal case to pay for the cost of taking the matter to a law court.

cost noun (SOMETHING GIVEN OR LOST)

[ U ]

that which is given, needed, or lost in order to obtain something:

He supported the refugees at great personal cost.

Idioms

at any cost
at cost
cost (someone) an arm and a leg

cost

verb [ T ]

/kɔst/

past tense and past participle cost

cost verb [T] (PAY MONEY)

to need you to pay a particular amount of money in order for you to buy or do something:

The trip will cost (you) $1000.

It costs a lot to buy a house these days.

cost verb [T] (GIVE OR LOSE SOMETHING)

to be forced to give or lose something in order to obtain something:

If you give him a chance to hit the ball, it could cost you the ballgame.

(Definition of cost from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

cost | Business English

cost

noun

/kɒst/ us

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[ C or U ]

money that has to be spent in order to buy, do, or make something:

Some people are reluctant to seek the help of a financial adviser because of the cost.

the cost of (doing) sth What's the cost of an international call?

cut/lower/reduce the cost If states shared the risk of catastrophic events, this would lower the cost for policyholders.

increase/raise/push up the cost New standards will increase the cost of making and selling diesel vehicles.

the cost increases/rises/goes up Raw material costs have risen faster than expected.

the cost goes down/drops/falls The cost of farm subsidies is expected to fall thanks to large exports and healthy prices.

an increase/rise in the cost of sth an increase in the cost of goods and services

travel/childcare/healthcare costs All travel costs will be reimbursed by your employer.

legal/medical/insurance costs Republican candidates offered tax credits to lower health insurance costs.

high/rising/spiralling cost(s) Spiralling fuel costs have hit motorists hard.

additional/average/extra cost The average cost of insuring a family car in 2011 was £360.

estimated/projected cost Total projected cost is $2.5 billion.

cover/pay/meet the cost A one-off disposal fee covers the cost of collection and recycling

at a cost of $4 billion/£150,000, etc. plans to build ten new power stations at a cost of £2 billion each

the cost to sb "What will the cost to taxpayers be?" is the question on everyone's lips.

Strategic alliances can provide growth at a fraction of the cost of going it alone.

Apartments in Brooklyn often sell at half the cost of apartments in Manhattan.

costs [ plural ]

money that a company or organization has to spend regularly:

Company legislation deals with key issues such as costs, advertising, and promotional spend.

the costs of (doing) sth Small companies find it hard to bear the costs of promotion and distribution.

cut/reduce/rein in costs There was a drive to cut costs by using fewer suppliers.

high/rising/escalating costs Escalating costs have adversely affected profits.

increase/rise in costs Technological advances have sparked most of the rise in costs, industry analysts claimed.

reduction in costs A reduction in costs should help boost end-of-year figures.

administrative/labour/production costs

energy/fuel costs

additional/actual/extra costs The OFT said yesterday that credit card providers could only charge for the actual costs of processing late payments.

incur costs Adequate compensation should be provided for any costs incurred.

cover/recover/recoup costs Because private farmers can't recoup their costs, they are cutting production.

costs rise/go up/increase Staff costs have risen by 20% in the past two years.

costs come/go down Alternative energy sources will become more widely used as costs come down.

[ U ] ACCOUNTING

the amount of money that is spent to produce goods or services, before any profit is added for the manufacturer or producer:

Mass-market retailers often sell items such as bread and milk at cost to pull in customers.

Supermarkets were accused of encouraging irresponsible drinking by selling beer and cider at below cost.

See also

cost price

[ C ] ACCOUNTING

an amount of money that a company has to pay and that appears in its accounts:

The amount paid for the lease should be entered as a cost in the profit and loss account.

The depreciation of the value of equipment is treated as a cost.

[ S or U ]

something that is given, needed or lost in order to get a particular thing:

cost to sb/sth We will help you run your business with less cost to the environment.

at a cost to sth She continued in the job, but at a great cost to her health.

cost in sth They felt that continuing with the project was not worth the cost in time and effort.

considerable/enormous/great cost

costs [ plural ] (also legal costs)

LAW

the money that helps pay for the lawyers and the court in a legal case, usually paid by the person or organization that has lost the case:

They were fined $50,000 and ordered to pay $10,000 in costs.

See also

accrued cost
acquisition cost
bid costs
carrying cost
conversion cost
current cost
customer acquisition cost
depreciated cost
direct cost
discretionary costs
economic cost
employment costs
factor cost
factory cost
first cost
fixed cost
hard cost
high-cost
historic cost
holding cost
incremental cost
indirect cost
cost price
life cycle cost
low-cost
marginal cost
operating cost
opportunity cost
overhead cost
prime cost
real cost
replacement cost
restructuring cost
running cost
selling cost
set-up cost
social cost
soft cost
standard cost
standby cost
start-up cost
sunk cost
switching cost
transaction cost
unit cost
variable cost

cost

verb [ T ]

/kɒst/ us

cost | cost

if something costs a particular amount of money, you have to pay that amount in order to buy or have it:

cost $1 million/£500,000, etc. Calls cost 60 cents per minute.

cost sb $1 million/£500,00, etc. Deregulation allowed the company to fix electricity prices, costing consumers billions of dollars.

cost more/less than Stamp duty is up to 3% on properties costing more than £250,000.

cost about/around/up to luxury apartments costing up to £900,000 each

be expected/estimated to cost The project, which was originally expected to cost $1 billion, is now estimated at $1.8 billion

cost as little/much as Hundreds of items, some costing as little as $1, are for sale.

if something costs you your job, an opportunity, etc. it prevents you from keeping or having it:

The airline folded, costing 3.000 jobs.

cost sb sth Problems with our suppliers could cost us the opportunity to grow our business.

ACCOUNTING costed

to calculate the price of something or to decide how much it will cost:

Has the project been costed yet?

cost sth at The new rail line was costed at £150 billion.

cost (sb) a fortune/a bomb/the earth informal

to be very expensive:

The court case will cost the company a fortune.

(Definition of cost from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of cost

cost

Cost utility analysis permits the cost of treatment to be considered according to the amount of benefit afforded to the patients.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This permits good discrimination within this intensity range at the cost of absolute intensity discrimination.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The working plans included construction of forest access roads at fairly high labour cost.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Using this early conceptual framework, numerous layouts were planned and costed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Our task-based approach is presented in view of a rigorous mathematically-based optimization formulation, where cost functions characterizing human performance measures are implemented.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A cost of production analysis of conventional versus integrated versus organic apple productions systems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

First, pricing and other policies that artificially 'subsidize' the returns to conversion activities on forest land or the costs of conversion need to be reformed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Additional copies, not exceeding 200, may be had at cost price : these should be ordered when the final proof is returned.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In a nonlinear environment, it would be enough to have locally increasing returns like setup costs.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The reduction in collateral relative to debt raises the costs of lending and reduces the return on investment and the aggregate rate of growth.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This reduces the costs of financial intermediation and raises the overall return on investment.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Using the connection between language and reasoning to improve concept generation may assist in reducing the overall cost in the product realization cycle.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Of interest, national regulations were required already at that time to reduce the large variability among hospitals in the exact method of cost price calculation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The constant represents the expected project yield in capital (per unit invested), net of monitoring costs.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The cost of replacing carbon by growing trees is so high primarily because of the opportunity costs of foregoing agricultural production on prime cropland.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.