▪ I. † cost, n.1 Obs.
[ONorthumb. cost, a. ON. kostr trial, chance, state, condition, quality, etc. = Goth. kustus proof, trial:—OTeut. *kus-tuz, from weak grade kus- of keus-, kaus-, kus-, to taste, prove, choose: cf. OE. costian, Ger. kosten to try, prove, taste; also L. gustus, gustāre, Gr. γεύ(σ)ειν, to taste. See also cust.]
1. Way, manner; available course; contrivance. needes cost: in the way of necessity, necessarily. The OE. phrases ænigum coste, alre coste, appear to survive in the modern at any cost, which is now, however, in sense referred to cost n.2
| c 900 Durham Ritual (Surtees Soc.) 108 Ineffabilibus modis, vnasæccendlicvm costvm. Ibid. 113 Ullo modo, ænigvm coste. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 21 We ne maȝen alre coste halden crist bibode. c 1205 Lay. 13769 Nus þer cost nan oðer. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1478 Þe candelstik bi a cost watz cayred þider. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 619 Needes cost he moste himselven hyde. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. ii. 141 This word ‘graued ymage’ bitokeneth, needis cost..a feyned graued God. |
2. A quality, characteristic, habit; disposition, nature, kind, character. Often in pl.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 29 He haueð þes deofles costes þet a festeð and a deð uuel. c 1200 Ormin 8056 And son summ icc wass waxenn mann, Þa flæh I childess cosstess. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3327 Knewen he noȝt ðis dewes cost. c 1340 Ibid. 8179 (Fairf.) Þe king þat kinde was of coste. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1849 Who-so knew þe costes þat knit ar þer-inne. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 364 What schuld ye do a this place, Swych costus to kythe? |
▪ II. cost, n.2
(kɒst, -ɔː-)
Also 3 coust, 4–6 coste, 5 cooste, Sc. coist.
[a. OF. cost, coust (now coût) = Pr. cost, Sp. and It. costo, f. Rom. vb. costare: see cost v. The Rom. n. (with fem. costa) has, like the vb., been widely adopted in Teutonic, Slavonic, and Celtic: cf. OHG. kosta, MHG. and MLG. koste, kost, mod.G. kost, MDu. cost, Du. kost; Icel. kostr, Sw., Da. kost; Polish koszt, Russ. kosht{supi}; Irish cost, cosd, Welsh cost.]
1. a. That which must be given or surrendered in order to acquire, produce, accomplish, or maintain something; the price paid for a thing. Also attrib.
prime cost: the first or original cost of production, without any charges for distribution; the price at which a merchant or dealer buys, as opposed to that at which he sells: in this case commonly called cost price.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13374 (Cott.) Left þai noght for cost ne suinc, And god wine had þai for to drinc. 1428 in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1869) 6 Tymber with the coste and cariage. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 158 Medyll wyth nothyng of gret cost. 1526 Tindale Luke xiv. 28 Which of you disposed to bilde a toure, sytteth not doune before, and counteth the cost? 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 670 For cost of clothes, for price of vessels. c 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. vii, Some small quantity which was sold below the prime cost. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. i. vii. I. 57 In common language what is called the prime cost of any commodity does not comprehend the profit of the person who is to sell it again. 1834 Dickens Sk. Boz (1836) II. 139 Every description of goods..fifty per cent, under cost price. 1851 Kingsley Yeast 201 Dealing out flannel and sheeting a little below cost price. 1868 Rogers Pol. Econ. ii. (ed. 3) 7 The aggregate amount of labour expended on objects and services is called the cost of production. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Apr. 220/1 The cost-price Land-Rover. |
† b. Outlay, expenditure, expense. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 829 Aurilius, that his cost hath al for-lorn. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 20 To spare for no coste that this be doo. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 122 Better is cost upon somewhat worth than spence vpon nothing worth. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. i. 98 The fashion of this world is to avoid cost, and you encounter it. 1611 Bible 1 Chron. xxi. 24, I will not..offer burnt offerings without cost. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 24 ¶12 No Art or Cost is omitted to make the Stay..agreeable. |
† c. pl. Expenses, charges. Obs. exc. as in 2.
| c 1300 Cursor M. 13401 (Cott.) Sir architricline, Þat..costes to þe bridal fand. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour H v, With⁓oute grete costes and expenses. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 305, I will delyver you a certaine some of money to pay your costes in your lodgings. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. xii. §5 (1681) 259 The Dace..doth very well in Fish-ponds, if any think it worth their costs and pains to keep them there. 1793 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 71 (1794) III. 102 [This] induces all that can afford the costs..to send their children abroad. |
d. That which a thing originally cost. (Cf. prime cost in 1 a.) So at cost: at the initial cost.
| 1873 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. II. 216 If they get cost in the spring for their sheep, throwing in their labor, they think the profits ample. 1898 C. A. Bates Clothing Bk. No. 2506, We sell..durable clothing very close to cost. |
e. cost of living: the cost of maintaining a particular standard of living; also attrib., as cost-of-living index, an index which measures periodical (monthly, etc.) changes in the level of retail prices (since 1947 known in Britain as the Index of Retail Prices).
| 1896 W. D. Howells Impr. & Exper. 35 The pay is not only increased in proportion to the cost of living, but it is really greater. 1913 Commonw. Austral. Labour Bull. May 24 Particulars of the cost of living index-numbers in each State during the last quarter..are shown in the following table. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 755/1 Till recent years the phrase ‘Cost of Living’ was only used loosely by economists when the balance between movements of wages and prices was in question... In popular parlance it has since become a recognized economic problem. 1927 Bowley & Stamp Nat. Income 1924 31 Average earnings of all wage-earners for a full working-week are estimated to have increased 94 per cent. between 1914 and 1924, while the Cost of Living Index rose 75 per cent. 1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 5 Apr. 149/4 They were shortly afterwards subjected to the upper cut in the cost-of-living bonus. 1948 G. Crowther Outl. Money (ed. 2) iii. 85 The value of money in buying the goods and services that the ordinary family consumes..can be called the retail value of money, or the cost of living. 1965 Seldon & Pennance Everyman's Dict. Econ. 96 Constructing a cost of living index requires investigation into the expenditure of a representative sample of households belonging to the group whose cost of living is to be studied. It shows the expenditure on each commodity and each service within the period by the members of the group as a whole. |
2. Law. (pl.) The expenses of litigation, prosecution, or other legal transaction; esp. in an action at law, those allowed in certain cases by law or by the court in favour of the winning and against the losing party. Also attrib., as costs clerk.
| 1340 Ayenb. 40 Þe ualse demeres, þet..doþ maki þe greate costes, and nimeþ þe greate yefþes. 1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 36 Pream., Sir William..had jugement to recovere for his seid mayme and costes of the same suyte M{supl}iiij li. 1538 Starkey England ii. ii. 190 The party condemnyd..schold ever be awardyd to pay costys. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 399 Thus much for judgments; to which costs are a necessary appendage. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 535 If a trustee sues in Chancery for the trust estate, and obtains a decree, with costs. Ibid. V. 613 [The judge] dismissed the bill, but without costs. 1892 Newspr., Police Cases, Fined 5s. and costs. a 1893 Mod. Each party to pay their own costs. The judgement does not carry costs. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §939 Costs clerk..has special knowledge of costs and disbursements which solicitors are entitled to charge for their services..; draws bills of costs against client for services rendered. |
3. transf. Expenditure of time, labour, etc. Also in pl. (obs.).
| c 1300 K. Alis. 7363 Swete is love of damosele; Ac hit askith costes feole! c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 750 Carande for his costes, lest he ne keuer schulde. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7824 Some of þaire felawschip þai lost, And of þair bydin all þair cost. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. Proem in Ashm. (1652) 8 They leese their Costs [= pains], as men see aldaye. 1586 Bright Melanch. Pref., In a simple phrase without any cost or port of words. 1676 Hobbes Iliad ii. 154 After so much cost Of time and blood. 1876 Trevelyan Macaulay I. ii. 63 Intent on amusing themselves at any cost of time or trouble. |
† 4. concr. That on which money, etc. is expended; a costly thing. Obs. rare.
| 1388 Wyclif Dan. xiv. 7 [Bel. & Dr. 8] Who it is that etith these costis [1611 expenses]. a 1400–50 Alexander 4180 It kindils on a lowe..And many costious costis consumes in-to askis. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. iii. 60 Like one, that drawes the Modell of a house Beyond his power to builde it; who (halfe through) Giues o're, and leaues his part-created Cost A naked subiect to the Weeping Clouds. c 1600 ― Sonn. lxiv. |
5. a. Phrases. † to do cost or make cost(s), to be at cost: to be at expense; to spend money, etc.; to incur or bear expense. Obs. (Cf. expense 3 b.)
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 297 Þo ys coust was al ydo. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1448 Hips. & Medea, Al the cost I wele myn seluyn make. 1428 in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1869) 6 For expenses and costis maad on our gardyne. 1465 Paston Lett. No. 529 II. 238 The coste that ye dede on me. 1526 Tindale Acts xxi. 24 Do cost on them. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1247/2 William the first lord Coniers..did much cost vpon Hornelie castell. c 1638 Sat. Glasg. Assemb. in Maidment Sc. Pasquils (1868) 37 Lordlings..rule the rost And forceth us to make the cost. |
| 1633 D. Rogers Treat. Sacraments ii. 78 We..have chosen rather to be at cost with God, than to forgoe the knowledge of his truths. a 1659 Bp. Brownrig Serm. (1674) I. i. 5 Obed-Edom had been at cost with God's Ark. |
b. at († upon, † of) any one's cost († costs): at his expense (now usually implying loss or detriment: cf. d). at the cost of (something): at the expense of losing or sacrificing it. So at little cost, at any cost, etc. at all costs [= F. à tout prix]: whatever the cost may be; in spite of all losses.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 183 Al þe bachelerye..he nom in ys companye And of ys maynage, vp ys coust. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 799 [He] Shal haue a soper at oure aller cost. 1474 Caxton Chesse 52 He was buryed at the costis and dispencis of the comyn good. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 1157 Many shyps were made upon the kynges cost. 1566 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 48 To drink..of his lordships cost. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 327 Heere at my house, and at my proper cost. 1611 Bible 2 Sam. xix. 42 Haue we eaten at all of the kings cost? 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 115 We feasted at the enemy's cost. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 40 To expel the English at any cost from Shahpuri. 1862 Ruskin Munera P. (1880) 2 To increase the numbers of a nation at the cost of common health or comfort. a 1919 in ‘Boyd Cable’ Old Contemptibles vi. 90 To hold the position at all costs until relieved. 1926 A. Huxley Two or Three Graces 150 At all costs, no frankness! 1970 Daily Tel. 13 Oct. 11/2 Our..wish to be left alone at all costs. |
† c. of (at, for) free cost: free of cost; without payment, gratis. Obs.
| c 1590 Marlowe Faust. Wks. (Rtldg.) 93/1 I'll feed thy devil with horse-bread as long as he lives, of free cost. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. lvi. 218 Tables..where all that desired it..were admitted to eat of free cost. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1698) I. iii. 29 Cedar..being to be had here at free cost. 1821 Scott Kenilw. ii, Unwilling to quit good liquor when it was to be had for free cost. |
d. to any one's cost: resulting to his expense; hence, to his loss or detriment.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 13 Hee is at Oxford still, is hee not? Sil. Indeede Sir, to my cost. 1647 Cowley Mistr., Thraldom iii, But quickly to my Cost I found, 'Twas cruel Love..had made the Wound. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 21 We soon learnt to our Cost that we were far from, etc. 1805 Wordsw. Waggoner i. 87 He knows it to his cost, good man! 1834 H. Martineau Demerara iii. 41 It wears out fast..as I can tell to my cost. |
† e. more cost than worship, etc.: see quots. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. Advt. (1634) A j, All their figures are cut in wood and none in metall, and in that respect inferiour to these, at least (by the old proverbe) the more cost the more worship. 1765 Foote Commissary i, You labour too hard..Ay..and for little or nothing: only victuals and cloaths, more cost than worship. 1876 Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘It's mair cost than worship’, more expensive than useful. 1877 E. Peacock N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., When anything costs much more than it is worth, it is said to be ‘more cost than worship’. |
6. attrib. and Comb., as cost-free, cost-neglecting, cost-saving adj.; cost account, an account kept of the cost of production of articles, works, etc.; so cost accountant, one who records every item of (esp. overhead) expenses in a business concern (with a view to checking wasteful expenditure); also cost-account v. intr., cost-accounted ppl. adj., cost accounting, cost book-keeping; cost-benefit, used esp. attrib. of an analysis, study, etc., which assesses the relationship of the actual cost of a project, etc., and the value of social and other benefits resulting from its completion; cost clerk, one who keeps a cost account; cost-effective a., designating or pertaining to a project, etc., that is effective in terms of its cost; so cost-effectiveness; cost-keeper, a cost clerk; so cost-keeping; cost-plus (orig. U.S.), ellipt. for ‘cost plus profits’, used attrib. to denote a system whereby the price of an article, etc., is the basic cost of production plus an agreed percentage for profit; cost price, see 1; cost push (see quot. 1959); used esp. attrib.; cost-sheet, a table or statement showing the expense of any undertaking; cost value (see quot. 1848).
| 1896 Daily News 17 Nov. 2/2 The accounts are *cost accounts, and are designed to show the actual cost..of every work..executed by the Works Department. 1920 Act 10 Geo. V Sched. ii. 11 Such cost accounts, trading accounts, and balance sheets..as the Controller may require. 1960 I. Jefferies Dignity & Purity v. 68 They cost-account pretty thoroughly. |
| 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §933 *Cost accountant, costing accountant, costing clerk, costs clerk. |
| 1957 W. H. Whyte Organiz. Man 121 These jobs, while not mere make-work, are outside the regular *cost-accounted operations of the company. |
| 1913 Moxey Princ. Factory Cost Keeping 8 All factory *cost accounting is based directly on the principles of double-entry book-keeping. 1924 H. R. J. Holmes Farm Costing 107 The whole object of cost accounting is the elimination of waste. 1964 C. Dent Quantity Surv. by Computer ii. 10 This development, however, may have to wait until building contractors are in the habit of using more sophisticated cost-accounting systems. |
| 1928 R. H. Lansburgh Industr. Management (ed. 2) xv. 172 Standardization of codes and regulations..must be of enormous *cost benefit to builders and users of machinery. 1963 Times 16 Apr. 13/4 Cost-benefit analysis..constitutes an endeavour to bring into relationship with ‘the measuring rod of money’ all the social consequences either of introducing a new project or removing an old one. 1964 Economist 7 Mar. 899/2 ‘Cost-benefit’ studies that have been made (for instance for the M1 motorway) to work out rates of return. |
| 1924 H. R. J. Holmes Farm Costing 19 *Cost Book-keeping begins essentially with an allocation of horses and manual labour to the separate departments for which a closing or working account is kept. |
| 1898 Engineering Mag. XVI. 42 This forms the *cost clerk's authority for labor value in prime costs. 1902 Daily Chron. 5 Nov. 9/6 Timekeeper and Cost Clerk in engineering works [wanted]. |
| 1967 Guardian 7 July 20/7 Does Mr McNamara's *cost-effective thinking pass the Soviet leaders by? 1968 Observer 23 June 1/5 The Cabinet has evidently decided that it must be able to defend public spending as ‘cost-effective’. |
| 1964 Economist 11 Jan. 94/2 A proper *cost-effectiveness study. |
| 1612–15 Bp. Hall Contempl. O.T. xviii. v, He would not serve God *cost-free. 1820 T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. 211 That he Might his commons get cost-free. |
| 1898 Engineering Mag. XVI. 48 All of the *cost keeping is done by one cost-keeper, one assistant, and a typewriter. |
| 1631 Quarles Samson Div. Poems (1717) 266 The *cost-neglecting Cooks. |
| 1920 N.Y. Times 18 Feb. 10/4 Millions of dollars were wasted on cost-plus contracts... There was prodigious waste of money, and the *cost-plus system was by no means the only cause. 1949 Ann. Reg. 1948 448 The ‘cost-plus’ system of price control..had been discontinued... The system was replaced by maximum cash prices. |
| 1957 Economist 23 Nov. Suppl. 10/1 Monetary policy..may actually intensify pressures on prices. This seems self-evident to the believers in the *cost-push theory of current inflation. 1959 Ibid. 31 Jan. 409/1 ‘Cost push’ —the independent forces in the economy which raise wages and hence prices without regard to the state of demand. 1960 Ibid. 22 Oct. 381/2 It is conceivable that, through the folly of a trade union or a board of arbitrators, prices in one country may still be inflated by a cost-push. 1965 Seldon & Pennance Everyman's Dict. Econ. 98 Cost push, the process by which inflation..has been said by some economists to have been caused or intensified by trade unions insisting on higher wages irrespective of output. |
| 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 1 Mar. 135 A *cost-saving system of farming that any farmer can afford. |
| 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. I. iii. vi. 566 Most things naturally exchange for one another in the ratio of their cost of production, or at what may be termed their *Cost Value. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 8 Apr. 8/3 The properties specifically hypothecated to secure the present issue is [sic] of a cost value exceeding {pstlg}650,000. |
▪ III. † cost, n.3 Obs.
Also 5 cooste, 5–6 coste, 6 coast(e.
[OE. cost, ad. L. costum (costos), a. Gr. κόστος = Arab. qust, Skr. kusṭha (Yule), the thick aromatic root of the composite plant Aucklandia Costus, now Aplotaxis Lappa (Treas. of Bot.), a native of Cashmere, imported as a spice by the Greeks and Romans. Thence transferred in the Middle Ages to another odoriferous plant.]
The herb also called alecost or costmary.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 276 Wermod, betonica, redic, merce, cost. Ibid. III. 24 Wermod eoforþrote æncglisc cost. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xii. (1495), The juys of warmode wyth powder of Coste. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 57 Bi þe enoynture of hote oiles as oile of coste. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 94 Cooste, herbe, costus. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 170 Of Barly, or Millet, of Commin, of Coast. 1585 Lloyd Treas. Health S viij, Coste or Detyn stampt & mixt with oyle. 1598 Florio, Costo..the herbe Coaste or herbe Marie. |
‖ Occas. used in Lat. form costus, costum.
| 1559 Morwyng Evonym. 158 Sage, costum, rew, sothern⁓wood. 1712 Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 32 There are two sorts of this Costus, the sweet and the bitter. |
▪ IV. cost, n.4 Her.
(kɒst)
Also 6 coste.
[a. OF. coste (mod.F. côte) rib:—L. costa rib.]
= cotise; but sometimes differentiated from it: cf. 1610.
| 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie 12 A ‘Coste’ is the fourth parte of the bende..and is called at somtime a Cotys, somtyme a Batune. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry (1679) 44 He beareth Or, a Bend Verrey, between 2 Cotises or Costs, Gules. Ibid. ii. v. (1660) 61 When one of these is borne alone..then shall you tearme it..a Cost; but if they be borne by couples..then you may name them Cotises. 1868 Cussans Her. iv. 57 The diminutives of the Bend are the Bendlet..which is half the width of the Bend; the Cost, or Cotice, which is half the Bendlet; and the Riband, half of the Cost. Costs never appear alone in a shield. |
▪ V. cost
obs. f. coast, side, rib, border, region, etc.
▪ VI. cost, v.
(kɒst, -ɔː-)
Also 4–6 coste. pa. tense and pple. cost; also in 4 pa. tense costed, costide, pa. pple. coste.
[a. OF. coster, couster (mod. coûter) = Pr. and Sp. costar, Pg. custar, It. costare:—L. constāre to stand together, stand firm, abide, be settled or fixed, stand at a price, cost, f. con- together + stāre to stand.
The construction of this verb is idiomatic, and for its analysis it is necessary to go back to Latin. Hoc constitit mihi tribus assibus was literally ‘this stood (to) me in three asses’. The dative of the person has in Eng. become an indirect object, to being never expressed; the Lat. locative (ablative or genitive) of the amount or price became a simple object in French, and remains an adverbial object in English, in being never expressed. Hence a natural tendency to view the noun expressing the price as a simple object, and the verb as transitive. That it is yet really intransitive is shown by the fact that it has no passive either with the price or the indirect object as subject; ‘this cost me nothing’ cannot be changed into ‘nothing was cost me by this,’ or ‘I was cost nothing by this’. The adverbial adjunct may also be expressed by an adverb as much, little, more, less, dear(ly (cf. L. carius constat): even here the tendency is to look upon much, little, etc. as adjs. used substantively.]
1. a. To be acquired or acquirable at (so much), to come into one's possession or be maintained at (an expressed price); to be of the price of, be bought or maintained for, necessitate the expenditure of (an amount specified, or indicated as much, little, etc.).
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 768 And it shal coste noght. 1509–10 Act 1 Hen. VIII, c. 20 §1 Merchaundisez..to be valued after that they coste at the firste byeng. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. lxxiv. 305 A great fire was kindled..which cost a greal deal. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman i. (1841) I. 6 [He] thereby knows what everything costs at first hand. 1881 Goldw. Smith Lect. & Ess. 243 A bureau that cost forty dollars. |
b. With personal object (indirect): To bring or entail on (a person) in the way of expenditure; to ‘stand (a person) in’ (so much).
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 204 And þouȝ it had coste [v.r. hadde costned] me catel, biknowen it I nolde. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vi. 140, & [it] shold cost me all that I have in the worlde. 1538 Starkey England ii. i. 175 Hyt costyth hym more in nuryschyng hys famyly..then before. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 93 His Breeches cost him but a Crowne. 1647 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 7 That whatsoever it might cost him, I should be sent to the University. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. iv. 9 For fear of losing the mony I [a slave] cost him. 1799 H. Hunter St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. III. 595 Such an establishment would cost the State a very small matter. 1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 78 What will it cost him to set up the frame of such a ship. |
c. absol. To be expensive; to prove costly. colloq.
| 1895 [see mischief n. 9 c]. 1933 N. Hoult Youth can't be Served ii. 38 The best bacon, and a new-laid egg. And them things cost these times. 1938 F. Scott Fitzgerald Let. Feb. (1964) 23, I like them but my God they cost. 1960 T. Reese Play Bridge 20 In any event it cannot cost to play a spade. |
d. to cost money: to be (very) expensive; to cost the earth: to cost a large amount of money.
| 1667 Pepys Diary 29 Sept. (1896) VII. 129 All the afternoon talking in my chamber with my wife, about my keeping a coach the next year, and doing some things to my house, which will cost money. 1852 A. Cary Clovernook (1853) 74 Something pretty costs money: do you think it grows on bushes? 1924 O. W. Holmes Let. 18 Dec. (1953) I. 685 A very good etching of me was published but it is large and costs money. 1924 Wodehouse Bill the Conqueror vii. 149 ‘Big grey limousine.’ ‘Expensive?’ ‘Looked as if it had cost the earth.’ 1958 Daily Tel. 28 June 5/3 If you want a stake in the most haunting part of Europe without its costing the earth to travel there. |
2. a. fig. To necessitate or involve the expenditure of (time, trouble, or the like), loss or sacrifice of (some valued possession), suffering of (some penalty, etc.).
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 152 Which most is worth..And costeth lest a man to kepe..I say it is humilite. 1535 Coverdale 1 Chron. xiii. [xii.] 19 Yf he fell vnto his lorde Saul, it mighte cost vs oure neckes. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 387, I am for you, though it cost mee ten nights watchings. a 1633 G. Herbert Jacula Prudentum, Good words are worth much and cost little. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 414 To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. ix. 150 It cost me a month to shape it. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 72 The construction of their combs, costs them a great deal of labour. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xiv. 99 The journey having cost a little more than 14 hours. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 197 His eagerness to witness the spectacle cost him his life. 1874 Green Short Hist. ii. 98 The King's violence..cost him the support of the clergy. |
b. to cost (one) dear, cost dearly: to entail great expenditure or loss upon; to involve a heavy penalty.
| c 1320 Cast. Love 1092 Ȝif þou wolt him bugge to his feore, He schal costen þe ful deore. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 3494 A sholde delyuery me out of prisoun..Coste hit noȝt so dere. 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 255 If thou attempt it, it will cost thee deere. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 121 This cruelty cost him deerely afterwards. 1869 Lowell Singing Leaves iii, And woe, but they cost me dear! 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 162 To keep strict watch over the city whose conquest had cost William so dear. |
† 3. Of persons: To incur expense, ‘be at charges’; quasi-trans. to expend or spend (much, little, aught, etc.). Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 194 Riche men..þat costen so moche in grete schapellis. ― Sel. Wks. III. 305 Þei wolen make executours to coste moche bi somonyng fro place to place. 1382 ― Acts xxi. 24 Halowe thee with hem; and coste in hem, that thei schaue her heedis. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxviii, If thou haue oȝte on hur coste. c 1490 Promp. Parv. 94 (MS. K) Costyn, or do cost or spendyn, exspendo. |
4. Comm. To estimate or fix the cost of production of an article or piece of work.
| 1884–1891 [see costing vbl. n.]. |
▪ VII. cost
obs. f. coast, and aphetic f. accost.