cost /; AmE / noun, verb
■ noun
ACQUISITION COST, BID COST, CONVERSION COST, CURRENT COST, CUSTOMER ACQUISITION COST, DEPRECIATED COST, DIRECT COST, DISCRETIONARY COST, EMPLOYMENT COST, FACTOR COST, FACTORY COST, FIRST COST, FIXED COST, HARD COST, HIGH-COST, HISTORIC COST, HISTORICAL COST, HOLDING COST, INDIRECT COST, LEGAL COST, LOW-COST, MANAGED COST, MARGINAL COST, OPERATING COST, OPPORTUNITY COST, PRIME COST, REPLACEMENT COST, RESTRUCTURING COST, RUNNING COST, SELLING COST, SOCIAL COST, SOFT COST, SWITCHING COST, SUNK COST, TRANSACTION COST, UNIT COST, VARIABLE COST
1 [C,U]
the amount of money that you need in order to buy, make or do sth:
The airport was built at a cost of$5.3 billion.
the high cost of fuel
Business should bear the full cost of developing greener energy sources.
The total cost to you is €2 000.
proposals to cut the costs of calling mobile phones
We're hoping that we will at least cover our costs at the conference.
The service is available at no cost on their website. See note at PRICE
an additional/average/a high/low cost
◆ the budgeted/estimated/full/gross/net/total cost(s)
◆ an annual/a monthly cost
◆ to absorb/bear/cover/incur/meet/pay the cost(s) (of sth)
◆ to cut/increase/raise/reduce the cost(s) (of sth)
◆ to calculate/weigh up the cost(s) (of sth)
2 costs [pl.]
the amount of money that a business needs to spend regularly:
We are working with suppliers to cut costs by 30%.
They have stopped manufacturing in the UK due to high labour costs.
The company has to sort out problems with rising costs and falling demand.
the costs associated with launching a new line of clothing
The group is trying to keep borrowing costs down.
⇨ COST-CUTTING
❖ to cut/lower/reduce/slash costs
◆ to contain/control/pay costs
◆ to keep costs down/low/under control high/escalating/increasing/mounting/rising costs
◆ falling/low costs
◆ labour/manufacturing/production costs
3 (Accounting ) [C]
a large amount of money that a company has to pay, which affects its financial results:
The figure will be treated as an extraordinary cost (= not connected with normal business activities) in the profit-and-loss account for 2005.
Profits fell by 7% before (= without considering) exceptional costs.
4 [U]
the amount of money that is paid to produce sth; the price that sb pays for goods they are going to sell:
Sales of computers dropped 30% and manufacturers were forced to sell their products below cost.
The group has offered to provide the drugs to developing nations at cost.
SYN COST PRICE
5 (Law ) costs (also court costs [pl.])
the amount of money that sb is ordered or agrees to pay for lawyers, etc. in a legal case:
The defendant was ordered to pay €5 000 in costs.
They were forced to pay the other party's costs.
They are seeking $130 million in damages and legal costs.
■ verb [+ obj] (cost, cost)
HELP NOTE In meaning 3 costed is used for the past tense and the past participle.
1 cost (sb) sth
if something costs a particular amount of money, you have to pay that amount in order to buy, make or do it:
The hotel costs €90 a night.
How much does it cost?
These delays cost small businesses well over €1 billion.
It only costs 20¢ a minute to phone the US.
These reforms will cost money (= be expensive).
The project will cost at least $2 billion more than estimated.
2 cost (sb) sth
to make sb/sth lose sth:
The rise in interest rates could cost thousands of jobs.
The merger has cost the company its independence.
3 (Accounting ) (costed, costed) cost sth (out) (often be costed)
to calculate how much money is needed to make or do sth:
Calls are costed per unit.
The programme was first costed at $23 billion.
Have you costed out how much it costs to recruit key staff?
The next task was to cost the project and find funding.
IDIOMS
cost a bomb (BrE) ( to be very expensive: An MBA can cost a bomb. BUNDLE (2) cost sb dear to make sb lose a lot of money or suffer a lot: Public ownership of the phone company has cost taxpayers dear. cost the earth; cost a (small) fortune; cost sb a (small) fortune ( to be very expensive: Office space in London costs the company a small fortune.