Definition of "expense" in English

noun

1. A spending or consuming, often a disbursement of funds.

   • She went to great expense to ensure her children would get the best education.
   • Buying the car was a big expense, but will be worth it in the long run.
   • We had a training weekend in New York, at the expense of our company.

2. The elimination or consumption of something, sometimes with the notion of loss or damage to the thing eliminated.

   • Jones reached the final at the expense of Smith, who couldn't beat him.

3. (obsolete) Loss.

verb

1. (transitive) To charge a cost against an expense account; to bill something to the company for which one works.

   • It should be acceptable to expense a business lunch with a client.