the total spent for goods or services including money and time and labor
"The real cost of renovating our kitchen turned out to be far higher than we anticipated when you add up the materials, overtime hours, and missed workdays."
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
"the fluctuating monetary value of gold and silver"
"he puts a high price on his services"
"he couldn't calculate the cost of the collection"
Amount of money, time, etc. that is required or used.
"The butcher sliced off two ribs of beef to make us some steak."
Manner; way; means; available course; contrivance.
A rib; a side.
In plain English: Cost is the amount of money you have to pay to get something.
"The cost of living has gone up this year."
Usage: As a noun, cost refers to the amount of money required to purchase something or the sacrifice involved in doing so. Do not confuse this financial meaning with the archaic term for a rib or side of meat.
To incur a charge of; to require payment of a (specified) price.
"The new software update cost me an extra twenty dollars per month."
In plain English: To cost means to cause someone to lose money or something valuable.
"The dinner cost us fifty dollars."
Usage: Use "cost" as a verb only when describing the price an item sells for or the expense incurred by someone else. Do not use it to mean that a person paid money, as you must say who performed the action of paying instead.
A surname.
"At the family reunion, Uncle Cost told a story about his great-grandfather who was also named Cost."
The word "cost" comes from the Latin phrase constare, which literally means "to stand together." It traveled into English through Old French and Middle English while retaining its original sense of being a price that stands or is set for an item.