expense has definitions from the field of business
1
[ noun ] (business) amounts paid for goods and services that may be currently tax deductible (as opposed to capital expenditures)

Used in print

(The Atlanta Constitution...)

Schley_County_Rep._B._D._Pelham will offer a resolution Monday in the House to rescind the body 's action of Friday in voting itself a $ 10 per day increase in expense allowances .

(Handbook of Federal Aids to Communities. U.S. Dep...)

This help is offered to applicants who ordinarily would not undertake the exploration under present conditions or circumstances at their sole expense and who are unable to obtain funds from commercial sources on reasonable terms .

(B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)

Some members of the bee family have become idlers , social parasites that live at the expense of their hardworking relatives .

Thus , the larvae of the intruder can develop at the expense of the rightful inhabitants and the store of beebread .

(Jim Berry Pearson, The Maxwell Land Grant....)

`` Litigants and witnesses were put to the expense and inconvenience of going long distances to transact business ; public money spent ; justice delayed ; nothing accomplished , and the whole distribution of justice in this county seems to be an absolute farce '' .

2
[ noun ] a detriment or sacrifice

Examples

"at the expense of"

Used in print

(Organic Gardening and Farming,...)

The day will come , in midsummer , when you find your plants becoming `` leggy '' , running to tall-growing foliage at the expense of blossoms .

(Edward Austin Walton, "On Education for the Interior...)

Thus technical efficiency is achieved at the expense of actual experience .

Related terms

detriment

3
[ noun ] (business) money spent to perform work and usually reimbursed by an employer

Examples

"he kept a careful record of his expenses at the meeting"

Used in print

(Doris Miles Disney, Mrs. Meeker's Money....)

His expenses ran another four or five_thousand .

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