[, ] () the money that you have to spend in order to start a new project or to save yourself money or time later （必要的）开支，费用◆The increase in sales quickly repaid the outlay on advertising. 销售量的增加很快弥补了广告费支出。◆The new machines represent a total outlay of $1.5 million. 这台新机器的总支出为 150 万元。➡capital outlay ⨁business / cash / financial outlays 商业／现金／财务支出⨁a high / massive / small outlay 庞大的／大量的／少量的开支⨁an initial / a total outlay 初期／总支出