expense

expense

expense is one of the 1000 most common headwords.

expense

[change] Noun

Singular
expense

(countable) An expense is something for which you spend money.

Food is a huge expense for many people around the world.
(countable & uncountable) An expense is an amount of money that you spend.

If your income is less than your expenses, you have a serious problem.

The company paid all of his expenses when he was in Shanghai.

The building was repaired at great expense.
If you do $x$ at the expense of $y$ , $x$ hurts $y$ because it makes $y$ have less money, less time, less social status, etc.

She often makes jokes at her own expense.

We have to decide whether safety at the expense of freedom is worth the cost.