Definition of "expendable" in English

adjective

1. Able to be expended; not inexhaustible.

   • Oil and other expendable resources are frequently the subject of military disputes.

2. Designed for a single use; not reusable.

   • The anti-aircraft rocket is fired from an expendable launch platform.

3. Not essential or mandatory in order to achieve a goal.

   • The research department was deemed expendable, and its funding was not renewed.

4. Regarded as not worth preserving or saving; able to be sacrificed.

   • In the internecine rivalries of large corporations, whole departments may become expendable in the execution of one executive's power play.

noun

1. An expendable person or object; usually used in the plural.

   • Private Johnson was afraid the Lieutenant considered him an expendable, since he was always picked as point man.