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expense

Pronunciation: /ɪkˈspɛns, ɛk-/

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Definition of expense

noun

[mass noun]
  • the cost incurred in or required for something:conference rooms were equipped at great expense book into the best hotel you can find and hang the expense
  • (expenses) the costs incurred in the performance of one’s job or a specific task:his hotel and travel expenses
  • [count noun] a thing on which one is required to spend money:tolls are a daily expense

verb

[with object]
  • offset (an item of expenditure) as an expense against taxable income: up to $17,500 in capital expenditures can be expensed in the year they were incurred
  • informal charge (something) to an expense account:I can expense the refreshments

Phrases

at someone's expense

paid for by someone: the document was printed at the taxpayer’s expense
with someone as the victim, especially of a joke:my friends all had a good laugh at my expense

at the expense of

so as to cause harm to or neglect of:the pursuit of profit at the expense of the environment

Origin:

late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French, alteration of Old French espense, from late Latin expensa (pecunia) '(money) spent', from Latin expendere 'pay out' (see expend)

Spelling help

Remember that expense ends with -ense.

expense in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of expense in the US English dictionary

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