expense
B2Formal/Informal. Common in business/financial contexts but also used in general everyday speech.
Definition
Meaning
The cost or price of something; money spent.
Something requiring the expenditure of money; a cause of cost; an incurred financial burden. Also used to describe the detriment or sacrifice incurred to achieve something.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Primarily refers to monetary cost but can be extended metaphorically to non-financial costs (e.g., 'at the expense of his health').
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No major spelling or meaning differences. Minor differences in compound usage (e.g., 'expense claim' is common in both, while 'T&E' (Travel and Expense) is more prevalent in American corporate jargon).
Connotations
Both variants share the same core connotations of cost, outlay, and financial burden.
Frequency
Extremely high frequency in both dialects, with equal prominence in business and general contexts.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
at the expense ofgo to the expense ofput someone to the expense ofcover/meet/pay an expenseVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “at someone's expense”
- “spare no expense”
- “a joke at my expense”
- “write it off as a business expense”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to costs incurred in the course of business operations (e.g., 'Please submit your travel expenses by Friday.').
Academic
Used in economics and business studies to discuss financial outlays and cost analysis.
Everyday
Used for general costs of living or specific purchases (e.g., 'The car repair was a major unexpected expense.').
Technical
In accounting, a specific category in financial statements representing the using up of assets.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The company will expense the cost of the hotel.
- Remember to expense your train tickets.
American English
- You can expense the software subscription.
- Make sure to expense the client dinner.
adverb
British English
- (Not a standard part of speech for 'expense')
American English
- (Not a standard part of speech for 'expense')
adjective
British English
- He submitted an expense claim form.
- We need to review the expense policy.
American English
- She has an expense account for client meetings.
- The expense report is due tomorrow.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- Lunch is a small expense.
- We cannot buy it. It is a big expense.
- The main expense for our holiday was the flight.
- He paid for the repair, but it was quite an expense.
- The project was completed on time, but at the expense of quality.
- All business expenses must be approved by a manager.
- They spared no expense in renovating the historic building.
- The policy succeeded, but at the great expense of public goodwill.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of EXIT + PENCE (old British coin). You EXIT with your PENCE/pennies when you pay for an EXPENSE.
Conceptual Metaphor
MONEY IS A FLUID RESOURCE ('cash flow', 'incur expenses'), AN OPPONENT/BURDEN ('burdened by expenses', 'struggle with expenses').
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid translating directly as 'расходы' for singular 'an expense' (it should be 'расход').
- Do not confuse with 'experience' (опыт) due to similar spelling.
- The phrase 'at the expense of' does not always mean literal financial cost; it often means 'to the detriment of' (в ущерб).
Common Mistakes
- Using it as a countable noun when it's often uncountable (e.g., 'too much expense' not 'too many expenses' for general cost).
- Confusing 'expense' (cost) with 'expenditure' (the action of spending).
- Misspelling as 'expence' (archaic).
Practice
Quiz
In the idiom 'at the expense of', what does 'expense' most closely mean?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
It can be both. As a general concept (e.g., 'The expense was too much'), it is uncountable. For individual items (e.g., 'travel expenses'), it is countable.
They are often interchangeable. However, 'cost' is more general (the price paid for something), while 'expense' often implies the money spent by a specific person or entity, especially in business contexts.
Yes, in business English. To 'expense' something means to record it as a business cost to be reimbursed (e.g., 'I will expense the taxi fare').
It means to spend as much money as necessary to get the best possible result, without worrying about the cost.
Collections
Part of a collection
Business Vocabulary
B1 · 50 words · Fundamental language of commerce and trade.