expense

noun

UK /ɪkˈspens/

Word Forms

singular	expense
plural	expenses

1
UK /ɪkˈspens/ countable an amount of money that you spend in order to buy or do something
Rent is our biggest expense.
You can claim part of your telephone bill as a business expense.
travelling/medical/legal expenses
a factory’s operating expenses
incur an expense:
The insurance will cover all expenses incurred during your time in hospital.
cover/meet an expense:
people struggling to meet their basic living expenses
Synonyms and related words
Prices and costs
price
cost
charge
2
uncountable the high cost of something
A powerful computer is worth the expense if you use it regularly.
expense of:
the expense and inconvenience of recovering cargo from sunken ships
go to great/considerable etc expense (=spend a lot of money):
His parents went to great trouble and expense to make sure the party was a success.
go to the expense of doing something (=spend money on doing something):
We didn’t want to go to the expense of sending a courier.
put someone to the expense of doing something (=make someone spend money on doing something):
That little mistake put us to the expense of reprinting the whole book.
Synonyms and related words
Prices and costs
price
cost
charge
3

expenses
plural money that you spend as part of your job that your employer later gives back to you
The company pays all our expenses.
put something on expenses (=charge it to your employer):
Let me pay – I can put it on expenses.
plus expenses:
Your salary will be £50,000 a year, plus expenses.
reimburse expenses:
All reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.
Synonyms and related words
Extra payments and benefits in addition to wages
benefit
benefit in kind
bonus

phrases

all expenses paid

at someone’s expense

at the expense of something

at great/vast/considerable expense

expense

noun

US /ɪkˈspens/

Word Forms

singular	expense
plural	expenses

1
US /ɪkˈspens/ countable an amount of money that you spend in order to buy or do something
Rent is our biggest expense.
You can claim part of your telephone bill as a business expense.
traveling/medical/legal expenses
a factory’s operating expenses
incur an expense:
The insurance will cover all expenses incurred during your time in the hospital.
cover/meet an expense:
people struggling to meet their basic living expenses
Synonyms and related words
Prices and costs
price
cost
charge
2
uncountable the high cost of something
A powerful computer is worth the expense if you use it regularly.
expense of:
the expense and inconvenience of recovering cargo from sunken ships
go to great/considerable etc. expense (=spend a lot of money):
His parents went to great trouble and expense to make sure the party was a success.
go to the expense of doing something (=spend money on doing something):
We didn’t want to go to the expense of sending a courier.
Synonyms and related words
Prices and costs
price
cost
charge
3

expenses
plural money that you spend as part of your job that your employer later gives back to you
The company pays all our expenses.
put something on expenses (=charge it to your employer):
Let me pay – I can put it on expenses.
plus expenses:
Your salary will be $70,000 a year, plus expenses.
reimburse expenses:
All reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.
Synonyms and related words
Extra payments and benefits in addition to wages
benefit
bonus
combat pay

phrases

all expenses paid

at someone’s expense

at the expense of something

at great/vast/considerable expense

expense

verb transitive

UK /ɪkˈspens/

Word Forms

present tense
I/you/we/they	expense
he/she/it	expenses
present participle	expensing
past tense	expensed
past participle	expensed

1
to charge money you spend to an expense account
He expensed over £700 on meals in the last three months.
Synonyms and related words
Extra payments and benefits in addition to wages
benefit
benefit in kind
bonus

expense

verb transitive

US /ɪkˈspens/

Word Forms

present tense
I/you/we/they	expense
he/she/it	expenses
present participle	expensing
past tense	expensed
past participle	expensed

1
to charge money you spend to an expense account
He expensed over $700 on meals in the last three months.
Synonyms and related words
Extra payments and benefits in addition to wages
benefit
bonus
combat pay

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