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cost

[kawst, kost]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

the price paid to acquire, produce, accomplish, or maintain anything: the high cost of a good meal.

an outlay or expenditure of money, time, labor, trouble, etc.: What will the cost be to me?

a sacrifice, loss, or penalty: to work at the cost of one's health.

costs, Law.

money allowed to a successful party in a lawsuit in compensation for legal expenses incurred, chargeable to the unsuccessful party.

money due to a court or one of its officers for services in a cause.

verb (used with object)

to require the payment of (money or something else of value) in an exchange: That camera cost $200.

to result in or entail the loss of: Carelessness costs lives.

to cause to lose or suffer: The accident cost her a broken leg.

to entail (effort or inconvenience): Courtesy costs little.

to cause to pay or sacrifice: That request will cost us two weeks' extra work.

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10.

to estimate or determine the cost of (manufactured articles, new processes, etc.).

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Cost is always a great word to know.

So is conspiracy. Does it mean:

an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act

a state or condition of real property in which title is not as yet vested in a known titleholder

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used without object)

11.

to estimate or determine costs, as of manufacturing something.

Verb phrase

12.

cost out, to calculate the cost of (a project, product, etc.) in advance: to cost out a major construction project.

Idiom

13.

at all costs, regardless of the effort involved; by any means necessary: The stolen painting must be recovered at all costs. Also, at any cost.

Origin:
1200–50; (v.) Middle English costen < Anglo-French, Old French co(u)ster < Latin constāre to stand together, be settled, cost; compare constant; (noun) Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French, noun derivative of the v.

Related forms

cost·less, adjective

cost·less·ness, noun

re·cost, verb (used with object), re·cost, re·cost·ing.

Synonyms
1. charge, expense, expenditure, outlay. See price. 3. detriment.

Example Sentences

Academics have struggled to place a price tag on the cost of treating those carrying around too much weight.

The majority of players elected to impose a penalty even when it cost them some of their own money.

It is the real cost of projects actually completed and in operation.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

variant of costo- before a vowel: costate.

Link To Cost

Collins

World English Dictionary

cost (kɒst)

—n
1.	the price paid or required for acquiring, producing, or maintaining something, usually measured in money, time, or energy; expense or expenditure; outlay
2.	suffering or sacrifice; loss; penalty: count the cost to your health; I know to my cost
3.	a. the amount paid for a commodity by its seller: to sell at cost
	b. (as modifier): the cost price
4.	(plural) law the expenses of judicial proceedings
5.	at any cost, at all costs regardless of cost or sacrifice involved
6.	at the cost of at the expense of losing

—vb , costs, costing, cost
7.	(tr) to be obtained or obtainable in exchange for (money or something equivalent); be priced at: the ride cost one pound
8.	to cause or require the expenditure, loss, or sacrifice (of): the accident cost him dearly
9.	to estimate the cost of (a product, process, etc) for the purposes of pricing, budgeting, control, etc

[C13: from Old French (n), from coster to cost, from Latin constāre to stand at, cost, from stāre to stand]

'costless

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

cost

c.1200, from O.Fr. coster, from V.L. *costare, from L. constare "to stand at" (or with), from com- "with" + stare "to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). The idiom is the same one we use in Mod.E. when we say something "stands at X dollars" to mean it sells for

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X dollars. Cost effective (also cost effective) attested from 1967.

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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

cost

see arm and a leg, cost an; at all costs; pretty penny, cost a.

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