costs 1 of 2

noun

plural of cost
1
as in expenses
a payment made in the course of achieving a result the newlyweds spared no cost in building the kitchen of their dreams

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Relevance
2
as in fees
the amount of money that is demanded as payment for something we can't afford the cost of a house just yet, so we're renting an apartment

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3
as in prices
the loss or penalty involved in achieving a goal they won the war, but at a terrible cost in lives

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costs

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of cost
as in fetches
to have a price of the raffle tickets cost a dollar each

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of costs
Noun
That flexibility, whether enabled by SSTs or other controls, could lower costs and speed up grid connections. — Alex Pasternack, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026 Anger about rising inflation, from energy prices to housing costs, has led to clashes in Italy and Portugal. — Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026 Global smartphone shipments fell 20% in the third quarter of 2026, the weakest third quarter since 2012, according to Counterpoint Research, as rising memory-chip costs pushed up phone prices. — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026 While these issues can be addressed, the costs can be incredibly high, and under Florida law, developers are only on the hook for anything identified within the first seven years after a building is handed over to the homeowners association. — Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026 What began with peaceful protests by high school students demanding better conditions at schools has morphed into roiling protests nationwide denouncing rising living costs and inequities in French society. — Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026 Households are grappling with such choices amid soaring healthcare costs, in some cases forcing them to make difficult financial trade-offs during open enrollment, experts said. — Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026 The researchers said shortages increased for the first time since May, while global transportation costs also rose. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2026 According to design lead Antoine Gaillot-Drevon, costs have been slashed by using flat steel panels and glass. — New Atlas, 12 Oct. 2026
Verb
Each of these cables costs a thousand euros, as per today’s prices, pushing up the cost of such a quantum computer. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 13 July 2026 Shipping experts say rural delivery costs more because drivers make fewer stops per mile, increasing the cost per package. — Barbara Booth, CNBC, 19 Apr. 2026 Beyond that, self-parking typically costs $25 per day but may cost more during special events. — Michael Salerno, AZCentral.com, 2 Oct. 2025 Worse, may car owners act like their car only costs the incremental cost of operating it, which can appear be under 5 cents/mile in an EV. — Brad Templeton, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for costs
  1. expenses
  2. fees
  3. prices
  4. fetches
  5. expenditures
  6. brings
Noun
  • Non-interest expenses came in below expectations, which is encouraging, but the $112 million beat versus the FactSet consensus didn't make up for all of the top-line softness.
    — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The complaint accuses Love Renaissance of improperly diverting money from Walker’s touring, recording, marketing, and merchandising budgets, while charging excessive company expenses to those accounts in bad faith.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of expenses
Noun
  • The Republican, who is leaving the House this term after losing her bid to be South Carolina governor, introduced a proposal this week to require that anyone who brings such a case and loses must pay attorney fees for the defendant.
    — MEG KINNARD, Arkansas Online, 15 Oct. 2026
  • That effort resulted in nearly two decades of litigation with PG&E and almost $30 million in legal fees and other expenses, according to The Modesto Bee.
    — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of fees
Noun
  • The authors found a long-run relationship between top incomes and art prices and argued that high-end art prices are driven less by the average person’s buying power than by how much the wealthiest can spend.
    — Molly A. Wallace, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The International Energy Agency has warned that constraints on the diesel market will likely keep prices elevated into the next year.
    — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of prices
Verb
  • Whatever proceeds Fairlane mall fetches at next month's auction/sale are to be deducted from the $35 million judgement against Kohan and the LLC.
    — JC Reindl, Freep.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • There's no public benchmark for what a whole cluster fetches when the seller has no choice.
    — Robert J. Szczerba, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of fetches
Noun
  • Between Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta, over $720 billion of capital expenditures is projected to be spent this year, most of it on AI infrastructure, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
    — Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • But the attorney general said the expenditures have been worth it, salvaging billions in state funding that the administration had sought to claw back, and protecting the rights of the state and its residents.
    — Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of expenditures
Verb
  • Different Monsters Require Different Minds That brings us to today.
    — Jeff DeGraff, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • For property owners who poured their life savings into Camelot, the arrival of heavy machinery brings mounting anger over how local authorities handled the complex's long, troubled decline.
    — La'Tasha Givens, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of brings

Browse Nearby Words

costly
costs
costume
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Cite this Entry

“Costs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/costs. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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