cost
n
1 the price paid or required for acquiring, producing, or maintaining something, usually measured in money, time, or energy; expense or expenditure; outlay
2 suffering or sacrifice; loss; penalty
count the cost to your health, I know to my cost
a the amount paid for a commodity by its seller
to sell at cost
b (as modifier)
the cost price
4 pl (Law) the expenses of judicial proceedings
5 ♦
at any cost or at all costs regardless of cost or sacrifice involved
6 ♦
at the cost of at the expense of losing
vb , costs, costing, cost
7 tr to be obtained or obtainable in exchange for (money or something equivalent); be priced at
the ride cost one pound
8 to cause or require the expenditure, loss, or sacrifice (of)
the accident cost him dearly
9 to estimate the cost of (a product, process, etc.) for the purposes of pricing, budgeting, control, etc. (C13: from Old French (n), from coster to cost, from Latin constare to stand at, cost, from stare to stand) ♦
costless adj
cost accounting
n the recording and controlling of all the expenditures of an enterprise in order to facilitate control of separate activities, (Also called)
management accounting
♦
cost accountant n
cost-benefit
adj denoting or relating to a method of assessing a project that takes into account its costs and its benefits to society as well as the revenue it generates
a cost-benefit analysis, the project was assessed on a cost-benefit basis
cost centre
n a unit, such as a department of a company, to which costs may be allocated for cost accounting purposes
cost-effective
adj providing adequate financial return in relation to outlay
♦
cost-effectiveness n
cost of living
n
a the basic cost of the food, clothing, shelter, and fuel necessary to maintain life, esp. at a standard regarded as basic or minimal
b (as modifier)
the cost-of-living index
2 the average expenditure of a person or family in a given period
cost-plus
n
a a method of establishing a selling price in which an agreed percentage is added to the cost price to cover profit
b (as modifier)
cost-plus pricing
cost-push inflation
n See →
inflation
cost rent
n (in Britain) the rent of a dwelling calculated on the cost of providing and maintaining the property without allowing for a profit
current-cost accounting
n a method of accounting that values assets at their current replacement cost rather than their original cost. It is often used in times of high inflation
Compare →
historical-cost accounting
factor cost
n (in social accounting) valuation of goods and services at their overall commercial cost, including markups but excluding indirect taxes and subsidies
historical-cost accounting
n a method of accounting that values assets at the original cost. In times of high inflation profits can be overstated
Compare →
current-cost accounting
opportunity cost
n (Economics) the benefit that could have been gained from an alternative use of the same resource
pound cost averaging
n (Stock Exchange) a method of accumulating capital by investing a fixed sum in a particular security at regular intervals, in order to achieve an average purchase price below the arithmetic average of the market prices on the purchase dates
prime cost
n the portion of the cost of a commodity that varies directly with the amount of it produced, principally comprising materials and labour, (Also called)
variable cost Compare →
overheads
standard cost
n (Accounting) the predetermined budgeted cost of a regular manufacturing process against which actual costs are compared
unit cost
n the actual cost of producing one article
variable cost
n a cost that varies directly with output