See Also: Prime cost or direct cost(finance)
cost(1)(dictionary)
All-in cost(finance)
COST(finance)
cost(3)(dictionary)
cost(4)(dictionary)
Net Cost(money)
cost(encyclopedia)
All-in cost(money)
Cost(money)

cost(4) (iou)



cost verb. Pa. t. & pple cost, (in branch II) costed. LME.

I. verb trans. with adverbial obj. & intrans.
verb trans. Be acquired or acquirable at, be bought or maintained for, necessitate the expenditure of, (so much). Also with the person buying, spending, etc. as indirect obj. LME.
Shakespeare Othello His breeches cost him but a crown.
verb trans. Necessitate or involve the expenditure of (time, trouble, etc.), loss or sacrifice of (some valued possession), suffering of (some penalty etc.). Also with the person losing, suffering, etc., as indirect obj. LME.
cost an arm and a leg: see ARM noun1. cost a person dear(ly) involve a heavy penalty on a person.
G. Herbert Good words are worth much and cost little. T. H. Huxley His eagerness to witness the spectacle cost him his life. R. Kipling The horses were stampeded..and..it cost a day and a half to get them together again.
verb intrans. Be expensive; prove costly. Also with pers. indirect obj. colloq. E20.
Scott Fitzgerald I like them but my God they cost. M. Kenyon 'That call was from Chicago.' 'It must have cost him.'
II. verb trans. with simple obj.
verb trans. Determine the cost of producing (an article) or undertaking (a piece of work). L19.
? In senses 1, 2 the verb has no pass. either with the price or the pers. indirect obj. as subj. and the price can be expressed by an adverb, as dearly. The simple obj. in English and French goes back to a Latin abl. or genit.
costing verbal noun the determination of the cost of producing or undertaking something; sing. & in pl., the cost so arrived at: L19.
costing ppl adjective costly; spiritually exhausting or expensive: E20.
costingly adverb in a costly or costing way E20.
costingness noun the quality of being costing E20.