cost */*/*/

I UK [kɒst] / US [kɔst] noun
Word forms "cost":
singular cost plural costs

1) [countable/uncountable] the amount of money that is needed in order to buy, pay for, or do something

cost of:

A rise in interest rates will increase the cost of borrowing.

cover the cost of something (= be enough to pay for something):

We need money to cover the cost of heating.

the cost of doing something:

The cost of rebuilding the theatre will be £13 million.

at a cost of:

We're organizing a trip to London, at a cost of £15 per head (= for each person).

cost to:

This scheme helps homeless people at no cost to the taxpayer.

See:

the cost of living

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Collocations:
Verbs frequently used with cost as the object ▪  cover, cut, defray, incur, meet, offset, recoup, recover, reduce

2) [countable/uncountable] damage or loss that is caused to something good or worth having

cost of:

the serious environmental costs of the new road network

cost to:

They decided to divorce, whatever the cost to their children.

at a cost of:

The plant closed down at a cost of over 1,000 jobs.

the social/human costs of something:

the social costs of unemployment

3)

a) costs

[plural] money that an individual or organization must spend regularly on things like electricity, rent, and travel

Higher fuel prices will lead to increased costs for car owners.

Housing and office costs are very high in Tokyo.

cut/reduce costs:

New technology has helped us to cut costs.

b) all the money that a business must spend to produce something or to provide a service

At these prices, we are not even covering our costs.

manufacturing costs

••

See:

running costs, operating costs

4) costs

[plural] legal money that someone involved in a court case must give in order to help to pay for the lawyers and the court, usually after they have lost the case

He was ordered to pay a fine of £250 plus £100 costs.

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- at a cost

- at all costs

- at cost

- to your cost

See:

the cost of living, count I

II UK [kɒst] / US [kɔst] verb [transitive]
Word forms "cost":
present tense I/you/we/they cost he/she/it costs present participle costing past tense cost past participle cost

1) if something costs an amount of money, that amount is needed in order to buy it, pay for it, or do it

A new computer costs around £1,000.

cost someone something:

Unemployment costs the taxpayer billions each year.

cost something per minute/hour/year etc:

Calls cost 36p per minute.

cost something per person/head/adult etc:

Dinner cost £35 per person including wine.

cost something to do something:

How much does it cost to hire a bike?

2) to cause someone to lose something good or valuable

The merger will cost jobs.

cost someone something:

His decision to take the car cost him his life.

cost someone dearly (= cause a serious loss):

We made two mistakes that cost us dearly.

3) cost or cost out

Word forms "cost":
past tense costed past participle costed to calculate exactly how much something will cost

All your proposals must be costed before we can consider them.

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cost a fortune/the earth/a bomb — informal to cost a lot of money

It cost a fortune to get the car fixed.

- cost an arm and a leg

- it'll cost you