- 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.
- 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.
- to estimate or determine the cost of (manufactured articles, new processes, etc.): We have costed the manufacture of each item.
- to estimate or determine costs, as of manufacturing something.
- to calculate the cost of (a project, product, etc.) in advance: The firm that hired him just costed out a major construction project last month.
- regardless of the effort involved; by any means necessary: The stolen painting must be recovered at all costs.
- variant of costo- before a vowel: costate.
- the price paid or required for acquiring, producing, or maintaining something, usually measured in money, time, or energy; expense or expenditure; outlay
- suffering or sacrifice; loss; penalty
- the amount paid for a commodity by its seller
- (as modifier)
- the expenses of judicial proceedings
- regardless of cost or sacrifice involved
- at the expense of losing
- to be obtained or obtainable in exchange for (money or something equivalent); be priced at
- to cause or require the expenditure, loss, or sacrifice (of)
- to estimate the cost of (a product, process, etc) for the purposes of pricing, budgeting, control, etc
