cost

cost¹ W1S1 [kɔst US ko:st] n

1.)

the amount of money that you have to pay in order to buy, do, or produce something

cost of

▪ the cost of accommodation

▪ I offered to pay the cost of the taxi.

▪ Insurance to cover the cost of a funeral is possible.

▪ This doesn't include the cost of repairing the damage.

▪ The new building's going up at a cost of $82 million.

▪ low cost housing

▪ the high cost of production

▪ A cassette/radio is included at no extra cost .

▪ The funds will just cover the museum's running costs .

→↑cost of living

2.) costs [plural]

a) the money that you must regularly spend in order to run a business, a home, a car etc

reduce/cut costs

▪ We have to cut costs in order to remain competitive.

▪ At this rate we'll barely cover our costs (=make enough money to pay for the things we have bought) .

▪ the travel costs incurred in attending the meeting (=money you have to spend)

▪ Because of the engine's efficiency the car has very low running costs (=the cost of owning and using a car or machine) .

b) also court costs

the money that you must pay to lawyers etc if you are involved in a legal case in court, especially if you are found guilty

▪ Bellisario won the case and was awarded costs.

▪ He was fined £1000 and ordered to pay costs of £2200.

3.) [U and C]

something that you lose, give away, damage etc in order to achieve something

at (a) cost to sb

▪ She had kept her promise to Christine, but at what cost to herself?

social/environmental etc cost

▪ the environmental cost of such mining projects

▪ They need to weigh up the costs and benefits (=disadvantages and advantages) of regulation.

▪ He's determined to win, whatever the cost (=no matter how much work, money, risk etc is needed) .

▪ We must avoid a scandal at all costs (=whatever happens) .

4.) [singular] especially AmE the price that someone pays for something that they are going to sell

= ↑cost price at cost

▪ His uncle's a car dealer and let him buy the car at cost (=without making a profit) .

5.) know/find out/learn etc sth to your cost

to realize something is true because you have had a very unpleasant experience

▪ Driving fast in wet conditions is dangerous, as my brother discovered to his cost!

→count the cost at ↑count¹ (10)

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COLLOCATES for sense 1

pay the cost of something

meet/bear the cost (of something) (=pay for something)

cover the cost (of something) (=pay for all of something)

the cost of doing something

at a cost of $10/$100 etc

high/low cost

full/total cost

extra/additional cost

rising/escalating cost

at no extra cost (to somebody)

labour/transport/legal etc costs

running/operating costs (=what it costs to organize an event or run a business)

WORD CHOICE: cost, costs, price, charge, fee, fare

Use cost to talk about paying for services and activities, rather than objects : The total cost of the trip was under $500. |I worked out the cost of the repairs.

Your costs are the amount of money you have to spend in order to run a business or to do a particular activity : The shop was not making enough money to cover its costs.

Use price to mean the amount of money that you must pay for something in a place such as a shop or restaurant : We are cutting all our prices (NOT costs) by 50% for one day only! | We were shocked by the price of a cup of coffee in London.

A charge is the amount you have to pay to have a particular service or use something : For a small charge we will also make your hotel reservations.

A fee is the amount you have to pay to enter or join something : The gallery charges no entrance fee. |The fee for membership is £25 per year. It is also the amount you have to pay for a professional service |The lawyer explained her fees.

A fare is the amount you have to pay to travel somewhere by bus, train, plane etc : I need some money for my bus fare. | His parents paid his fare to Sydney.

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cost ²

cost² W2S1 v

[Date: 1300-1400; : Old French; Origin: coster, from Latin constare 'to stand firm, cost'; CONSTANT¹]

1.) past tense and past participle cost [linking verb]

to have a particular price

▪ A full day's activities will cost you £45.

▪ His proposals could cost the taxpayer around £8 billion a year.

▪ How much would it cost us to replace?

not cost sb a penny

(=cost nothing)

▪ It won't cost you a penny for the first six months.

cost a (small) fortune/a pretty penny

(=have a very high price)

▪ It's costing us a fortune in phone bills.

cost a bomb/a packet

BrE (=have a very high price)

▪ What a fantastic dress. It must have cost a bomb!

▪ Lighting can change the look of a room and needn't cost the earth (=have a price which is too high) .

▪ Getting that insured is going to cost you an arm and a leg (=have a very high price) .

2.) cost sb their job/life/marriage etc

when something makes you lose your job etc

▪ Joe's brave action cost him his life.

▪ His strong stand on the issue could have cost him his job.

▪ Bad management could be costing this club a chance at the title.

3.) cost sb dear/dearly

to make someone suffer a lot or to lose something important

▪ A couple of missed chances in the first half cost them dear.

▪ The scandal has cost Nicholson dearly.

4.) past tense and past participle costed [T usually passive]

to calculate the total price of something or decide how much the price of something should be

▪ We'll get the plan costed before presenting it to the board.

5.) it will cost you

spoken used to say that something will be expensive

▪ Tickets are available, but they'll cost you!