Link Centre Dictionary

cost

UK/kɒst/ US/kɔst/ common
noun (3) verb (2)

noun

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)

  • “the fluctuating monetary value of gold and silver”
  • “he puts a high price on his services”
  • “he couldn”
Synonyms
3.

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

  • “the cost in human life was enormous”
  • “the price of success is hard work”
  • “what price glory?”
Synonyms

verb

1.

be priced at

  • “These shoes cost $100”
Synonyms
2.

require to lose, suffer, or sacrifice

  • “This mistake cost him his job”

Origin

From Middle English cost, from Old English cost (“option, choice, possibility, manner, way, condition”), from Old Norse kostr (“choice, opportunity, chance, condition, state, quality”), from Proto-Germanic *kustuz (“choice, trial”) (or Proto-Germanic *kustiz (“choice, trial”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵéwstus (“to enjoy, taste”). Cognate with Icelandic kostur, German dialectal Kust (“taste, flavour”), Dutch kust (“choice, choosing”), North Frisian kest (“choice, estimation, virtue”), West Frisian kêst (“article of law, statute”), Old English cyst (“free-will, choice, election, the best of anything, the choicest, picked host, moral excellence, virtue, goodness, generosity, munificence”), Latin gustus (“taste”). Related to choose. Doublet of gusto.

Phrases

  • at all costs
  • cost a pretty penny
  • cost an arm and a leg
  • cost base
  • cost cutting
  • cost disease
  • cost efficiency
  • cost estimate
  • cost function
  • cost out
  • cost saving
  • cost the earth

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.