noun

expense

ihk-SPEHNS

noun

Money spent on something; a cost.

"Travel is my biggest expense each month."

"The company covers work-related expenses."

verb

To bill a cost to one's employer or business account.

"He expensed the client dinner to the company."

How to Use Expense

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA cost you pay, or the act of charging that cost to a business.

Easily confused with

expenditure →

Common pairings

living expenses at great expense expense account

expensed past tense, expenses plural, expenses singular

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Travel is my biggest _____ each month.

From Old French espense, from Late Latin expensa, related to Latin expendere — the same root as "expend."

tense sense dense incense immense offense intense license defense nonsense condense dispense