Library / English Dictionary

COST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Example:

he couldn't calculate the cost of the collection

Synonyms:

cost; monetary value; price

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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"):

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

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)

Derivation:

cost (be priced at)

costly (having a high price)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Example:

what price glory?

Synonyms:

cost; price; toll

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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)

Sense 3

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"):

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))

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

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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Require to lose, suffer, or sacrifice

Example:

This mistake cost him his job

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be priced at

Example:

These shoes cost $100

Synonyms:

be; cost

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Or that it cost one pound six—which was more than we can afford.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Your arguments are too—er—forcible,” I managed to articulate, at cost of great pain to my aching throat.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

An analysis of the cost effectiveness of different alternatives in order to see whether the benefits outweigh the costs

(Cost/Benefit Analysis, NCI Thesaurus)

It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly filled a shelf with my writings.

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

Scientists moderate BioCarta, and the site is open and without restriction or cost to participants.

(BioCarta, NCI Thesaurus)

The method has a positive impact on health-care costs.

(Continuous Intravenous Infusion, NCI Thesaurus)

Traditional filters can cost around US$200.

(Watermelon rind a cheap filter for arsenic in groundwater, SciDev.Net)

“Not wretch enough yet!” said the sparrow; “thy cruelty shall cost thee thy life yet!” and away she flew.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

A government-guaranteed loan covered the costs, but the exact figure was kept secret.

(Hungarian state-owned enterprise acquires Hirtenberger Defence Group, Wikinews)

Or it may be that a creative project will bring overages, and you may have difficulties getting the client to cover the legitimate extra costs.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)