[, ] () the value of sth that could be done, made, chosen, etc., that will be lost when a decision is made to do a particular thing 机会成本（因选择做某事而放弃做另一事所付出的代价）◆The opportunity cost of expanding the Marketing Department is that Human Resources will have to be made smaller. 扩大营销部门的机会成本是不得不缩减人力资源部的规模。ⓘ Opportunity cost is an important part of the process of making decisions. opportunity cost 是决策过程的重要组成部分。