expense

I UK [ɪkˈspens] / US noun
Word forms "expense":
singular expense plural expenses
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1) [countable] UK [ɪkˈspens] / US

an amount of money that you spend in order to buy or do something

Rent is our biggest expense.

You can claim part of your telephone bill as a business expense.

travelling/medical/legal expenses

a factory's operating expenses

incur an expense:

The insurance will cover all expenses incurred during your time in hospital.

cover/meet an expense:

people struggling to meet their basic living expenses

2) [uncountable] the high cost of something

A powerful computer is worth the expense if you use it regularly.

expense of:

the expense and inconvenience of recovering cargo from sunken ships

go to great/considerable etc expense (= spend a lot of money):

His parents went to great trouble and expense to make sure the party was a success.

go to the expense of doing something (= spend money on doing something):

We didn't want to go to the expense of sending a courier.

put someone to the expense of doing something (= make someone spend money on doing something):

That little mistake put us to the expense of reprinting the whole book.

3) expenses

[plural] money that you spend as part of your job that your employer later gives back to you

The company pays all our expenses.

put something on expenses (= charge it to your employer):

Let me pay – I can put it on expenses.

plus expenses:

Your salary will be £50,000 a year, plus expenses.

reimburse expenses:

All reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.

•

at great/vast/considerable expense — spending a lot of money

At vast expense, he flew the entire family to Argentina.

- all expenses paid

- at someone's expense

- at the expense of something

See:

spare II

II UK [ɪkˈspens] / US verb [transitive]

to charge money you spend to an expense account

He expensed over $700 on meals in the last three months.