COST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cost mean? 

• COST (noun)
  The noun COST has 3 senses:

1. the total spent for goods or services including money and time and labor

2. the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)

3. value measured by what must be given or done or undergone to obtain something

  Familiarity information: COST used as a noun is uncommon.

• COST (verb)
  The verb COST has 2 senses:

1. be priced at

2. require to lose, suffer, or sacrifice

  Familiarity information: COST used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The total spent for goods or services including money and time and labor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("cost" is a kind of...):

expenditure; outgo; outlay; spending (money paid out; an amount spent)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cost"):

distribution cost (any cost incurred by a producer or wholesaler or retailer or distributor (as for advertising and shipping etc))

charge (the price charged for some article or service)

portage (the cost of carrying or transporting)

opportunity cost (cost in terms of foregoing alternatives)

price (cost of bribing someone)

damage; price; terms (the amount of money needed to purchase something)

unit cost (calculated cost for a given unit of a product)

physical value; reproduction cost (cost of reproducing physical property minus various allowances (especially depreciation))

replacement cost (current cost of replacing a fixed asset with a new one of equal effectiveness)

production cost (combined costs of raw material and labor incurred in producing goods)

marketing cost (the cost of marketing (e.g., the cost of transferring title and moving goods to the customer))

handling charge; handling cost (the cost of handling (especially the cost of packaging and mailing an order))

borrowing cost (the cost of borrowing something)

cost of living (average cost of basic necessities of life (as food and shelter and clothing))

cost overrun (excess of cost over budget)

ransom; ransom money (money demanded for the return of a captured person)

payment (a sum of money paid or a claim discharged)

capital expenditure (the cost of long-term improvements)

disbursal; disbursement; expense (amounts paid for goods and services that may be currently tax deductible (as opposed to capital expenditures))

Derivation:

cost (be priced at)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

cost; monetary value; price

Context example:

he couldn't calculate the cost of the collection

Hypernyms ("cost" is a kind of...):

value (the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cost"):

differential cost; incremental cost; marginal cost (the increase or decrease in costs as a result of one more or one less unit of output)

expensiveness (the quality of being high-priced)

assessment (the market value set on assets)

inexpensiveness (the quality of being affordable)

average cost (total cost for all units bought (or produced) divided by the number of units)

Derivation:

cost (be priced at)

costly (having a high price)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Value measured by what must be given or done or undergone to obtain something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

cost; price; toll

Context example:

what price glory?

Hypernyms ("cost" is a kind of...):

value (the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cost"):

death toll (the number of deaths resulting from some particular cause such as an accident or a battle or a natural disaster)

Derivation:

cost (require to lose, suffer, or sacrifice)

costly (entailing great loss or sacrifice)

• COST (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they cost    ... he / she / it costs   
Past simple: cost    / costed   
Past participle: cost    / costed   
-ing form: costing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be priced at

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

be; cost

Context example:

These shoes cost $100

Hypernyms (to "cost" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cost"):

knock back; put back; set back (cost a certain amount)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something

Derivation:

cost (the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold))

cost (the total spent for goods or services including money and time and labor)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Require to lose, suffer, or sacrifice

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

This mistake cost him his job

Hypernyms (to "cost" is one way to...):

ask; call for; demand; involve; necessitate; need; postulate; require; take (require as useful, just, or proper)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody something

Derivation:

cost (value measured by what must be given or done or undergone to obtain something)

 Context examples 

That'll cost only a quarter each way.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Each of these mends, done, as you observe, with silver bands, must have cost more than the pipe did originally.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And are you prepared to meet the cost?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Not just the economic cost, “but also the cost that you have to pay from an ecological, environmental perspective.”

(Study: Earth’s Night Skies Getting Brighter, VOA)

Health and long-term care insurance policies may cover some of the costs.

(Assisted Living, Administration on Aging)

Costs that can be identified with a particular project or program.

(Direct Costs, NCI Thesaurus)

An outline of the clinical steps in the care of a dental patient that may include specific services to be delivered, the frequency of services, expected duration/timing, and costs.

(Dental Treatment Plan, NCI Thesaurus)

Costs that are incurred for common or joint expenses at an institution by grant or contract activities which cannot be specifically identified with a particular user.

(Facilities and Administrative Costs, NCI Thesaurus)

Now, for the first time, researchers have quantified and compared these issues in terms of the economics of the entire production system to determine if the benefits of biofuel corn outweigh the costs.

(Corn better used as food than biofuel, National Science Foundation)

If you have health insurance, it usually pays at least part of your medical costs.

(Financial Assistance, NIH)