something expended to secure a benefit or bring about a result
financial burden or outlay
built at considerable expense
(in pl) the charges incurred by an employee in performing their duties
(also in pl) an item of business outlay chargeable against revenue in a specific period
a cause or occasion of high expenditure
A car is a great expense
at somebody's expense
in a manner that causes somebody to be ridiculed
He made a joke at my expense
at the expense of
to the detriment of
develop a boy's physique at the expense of his intelligence — Bertrand Russell
[Middle English via Anglo-French from late Latin expensa, fem past part. of Latin expendere: see expend]