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costs - 2 dictionary results

cost

  [kawst, kost] noun, verb, cost or, for 10–12, cost⋅ed, cost⋅ing.
Use costs in a Sentence
–noun
1. the price paid to acquire, produce, accomplish, or maintain anything: the high cost of a good meal.
2. an outlay or expenditure of money, time, labor, trouble, etc.: What will the cost be to me?
3. a sacrifice, loss, or penalty: to work at the cost of one's health.
4. costs, Law.
a. money allowed to a successful party in a lawsuit in compensation for legal expenses incurred, chargeable to the unsuccessful party.
b. money due to a court or one of its officers for services in a cause.
–verb (used with object)
5. to require the payment of (money or something else of value) in an exchange: That camera cost $200.
6. to result in or entail the loss of: Carelessness costs lives.
7. to cause to lose or suffer: The accident cost her a broken leg.
8. to entail (effort or inconvenience): Courtesy costs little.
9. to cause to pay or sacrifice: That request will cost us two weeks' extra work.
10. to estimate or determine the cost of (manufactured articles, new processes, etc.).
–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.) ME costen < AF, OF co(u)ster < L constāre to stand together, be settled, cost; cf. constant; (n.) ME < AF, OF, n. deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
costless, adjective
cost⋅less⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. charge, expense, expenditure, outlay. See price. 3. detriment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To costs
cost   (kôst)   
n.  
  1. An amount paid or required in payment for a purchase; a price.
  2. The expenditure of something, such as time or labor, necessary for the attainment of a goal: "Freedom to advocate unpopular causes does not require that such advocacy be without cost" (Milton Friedman).
  3. costs Law The charges fixed for litigation, often payable by the losing party.
v.   cost, cost·ing, costs

v.   intr.
To require a specified payment, expenditure, effort, or loss: It costs more to live in the city.
v.   tr.
  1. To have as a price.
  2. To cause to lose, suffer, or sacrifice: Participating in the strike cost me my job.
  3. past tense and past participle costed To estimate or determine the cost of: The accountants costed out our expenses.

[Middle English, from Old French, from coster, to cost, from Latin cōnstāre, to be fixed, cost; see constant.]
cost'less adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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