Word Study
cost
CIDE DICTIONARY
cost, n. [L. costa rib. See Coast.].
- A rib; a side; a region or coast. Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster]"Betwixt the costs of a ship." [1913 Webster]
- See Cottise. [1913 Webster]
cost, v. t. [OF. coster, couster, F. co, fr. L. constare to stand at, to cost; con- + stare to stand. See Stand, and cf. Constant.].
- To require to be given, expended, or laid out therefor, as in barter, purchase, acquisition, etc.; to cause the cost, expenditure, relinquishment, or loss of; as, the ticket cost a dollar; the effort cost his life. [1913 Webster]"A diamond gone, cost me two thousand ducats." [1913 Webster]"Though it cost me ten nights' watchings." [1913 Webster]
- To require to be borne or suffered; to cause. [1913 Webster]"To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe." [1913 Webster]
cost, n. [OF. cost, F. co. See Cost, v. t. ].
- The amount paid, charged, or engaged to be paid, for anything bought or taken in barter; charge; expense; hence, whatever, as labor, self-denial, suffering, etc., is requisite to secure benefit. [1913 Webster]"One day shall crown the alliance on 't so please you,
Here at my house, and at my proper cost." [1913 Webster]"At less cost of life than is often expended in a skirmish, [Charles V.] saved Europe from invasion." [1913 Webster] - Loss of any kind; detriment; pain; suffering. [1913 Webster]"I know thy trains,
Though dearly to my cost, thy gins and toils." [1913 Webster] - Expenses incurred in litigation. [1913 Webster]" Costs in actions or suits are either between attorney and client, being what are payable in every case to the attorney or counsel by his client whether he ultimately succeed or not, or between party and party, being those which the law gives, or the court in its discretion decrees, to the prevailing, against the losing, party." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
cost, v. & n.
--v. (past and past part. cost)
1 tr. be obtainable for (a sum of money); have as a price (what does it cost?; it cost me {pound}50).
2 tr. involve as a loss or sacrifice (it cost them much effort; it cost him his life).
3 tr. (past and past part. costed) fix or estimate the cost or price of.
4 colloq. a tr. be costly to (it'll cost you). b intr. be costly.
--n.
1 what a thing costs; the price paid or to be paid.
2 a loss or sacrifice; an expenditure of time, effort, etc.
3 (in pl.) legal expenses, esp. those allowed in favour of the winning party or against the losing party in a suit.
--v. (past and past part. cost)
1 tr. be obtainable for (a sum of money); have as a price (what does it cost?; it cost me {pound}50).
2 tr. involve as a loss or sacrifice (it cost them much effort; it cost him his life).
3 tr. (past and past part. costed) fix or estimate the cost or price of.
4 colloq. a tr. be costly to (it'll cost you). b intr. be costly.
--n.
1 what a thing costs; the price paid or to be paid.
2 a loss or sacrifice; an expenditure of time, effort, etc.
3 (in pl.) legal expenses, esp. those allowed in favour of the winning party or against the losing party in a suit.
Idiom
at all costs (or at any cost) no matter what the cost or risk may be. at cost at the initial cost; at cost price. at the cost of at the expense of losing or sacrificing. cost accountant an accountant who records costs and (esp. overhead) expenses in a business concern. cost-benefit assessing the relation between the cost of an operation and the value of the resulting benefits (cost-benefit analysis). cost (or costing) clerk a clerk who records costs and expenses in a business concern. cost a person dear (or dearly) involve a person in a high cost or a heavy penalty. cost-effective effective or productive in relation to its cost. cost of living the level of prices esp. of the basic necessities of life. cost-plus calculated as the basic cost plus a profit factor. cost price the price paid for a thing by one who later sells it. cost push Econ. factors other than demand that cause inflation. to a person's cost at a person's expense; with loss or disadvantage to a person.
Etymology
ME f. OF coster, couster, coust ult. f. L constare stand firm, stand at a price (as COM-, stare stand)
THESAURUS
cost
afford, amount, amount to, bereavement, bring, bring in, budget, budget items, burden of expenditure, carrying charge, charge, charges, come to, come up to, cost of living, cost out, cost-of-living allowance, cost-of-living index, costs, damage, dead loss, debit, denial, denudation, deprivation, despoilment, destruction, detriment, direct costs, disbursals, disburse, dispossession, distributed costs, divestment, expend, expenditure, expense, expense account, expenses, fetch, figure, forfeit, forfeiture, fork out, general expenses, get, go through, incur costs, indirect costs, injury, invest, labor costs, lay out, liabilities, loser, losing, losing streak, loss, material costs, mount up to, open the purse, operating costs, operating expense, outlay, overhead, pay, pay out, payment, perdition, price, price tag, prime cost, privation, put out, rate, replacement cost, robbery, ruin, run into, run through, run to, sacrifice, schedule, score, sell for, set one back, shell out, sink money in, spend, splurge, spoliation, squander, stripping, swindle sheet, tab, taking away, tariff, throw money around, total loss, total up to, unit costROGET THESAURUS
cost
Price
N price, amount, cost, expense, prime cost, charge, figure, demand, damage, fare, hire, wages, value, dues, duty, toll, tax, impost, cess, sess, tallage, levy, abkari, capitation tax, poll tax, doomage, likin, gabel, gabelle, gavel, octroi, custom, excise, assessment, benevolence, tithe, tenths, exactment, ransom, salvage, tariff, brokerage, wharfage, freightage, bill, shot, priced, to the tune of, ad valorem, dutiable, mercenary, venal, no penny no paternoster, point d'argent point de Suisse, no longer pipe no longer dance, no song no supper, if you dance you have to pay the piper, you get what you pay for, there's no such thing as a free lunch, one may have it for, a bon marche.VB bear a price, set a price, fix a price, appraise, assess, doom, price, charge, demand, ask, require, exact, run up, distrain, run up a bill, have one's price, liquidate, amount to, come to, mount up to, stand one in, fetch, sell for, cost, bring in, yield, afford.
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