costing

IPA/ˈkɒstɪŋ/
KK[kˈɔstɪŋ]IPA/ˈkɔːstɪŋ/

costing — noun

  • costingsingular
  • costingsplural

1. a worked-out figure showing how much money a future product, project, or activit

1.nounB2
Definition

a worked-out figure showing how much money a future product, project, or activity is expected to require.

Example

Rafael prepared a detailed costing for the new bakery before approaching the bank.

common verb pattern: prepare a costing

The architect sent over the costing for the kitchen renovation by Friday afternoon.

costing + for + project

Common collocations
  • prepare a costing
  • submit a costing
  • detailed costing
  • rough costing
Synonyms
  • estimate

    more general; a costing is a written, often itemised estimate

  • quote

    a price offered by a supplier; less analytical than a costing

  • budget

    wider in scope; covers spending plans across many items

Grammar Patterns

a costing for / on something

do / prepare a costing

Usage Note

Often appears in business and project-management contexts. Subject is usually a planner, accountant, or supplier; object is usually a future product, project, or service. Distinguish from sense 2: this is a calculated estimate that someone produces; sense 2 is the price tag itself.

Common Mistakes

I made a costing of two thousand dollars.
My costing came to two thousand dollars.' / 'The costing was two thousand dollars.
the costing is the document or figure, not a sum you literally hand over.

2. the amount of money that has to be handed over so you can buy or use something;

2.nounB2
Definition

the amount of money that has to be handed over so you can buy or use something; the price.

Example

Talia was shocked by the costing of fresh fruit at the seaside market.

the costing of + noun

The farmers complained that the costing of fertiliser had doubled in two years.

costing of + tracked commodity

Common collocations
  • the costing of fuel
  • the costing of materials
Synonyms
  • price

    everyday word for the same idea

  • cost

    near-identical; far more frequent in modern English

  • charge

    money asked specifically for a service

Grammar Patterns

the costing of something

Usage Note

Sounds slightly formal or old-fashioned; in everyday speech 'price' or 'cost' is far more common. Often paired with 'of' plus a thing being bought. Distinguish from sense 1: this is the amount actually paid or charged; sense 1 is a planner's calculation of an unpaid future amount.

Common Mistakes

How much is the costing?
How much does it cost?' / 'What is the price?
'costing' in this sense is unusual in casual speech; prefer 'price' or the verb 'cost'.

3. the amount of energy, time, or personal sacrifice that someone gives up in order

3.nounC1
Definition

the amount of energy, time, or personal sacrifice that someone gives up in order to reach a goal.

Example

Diya understood the costing of years away from family when she chose this career.

the costing of + abstract noun (years/effort)

Olympic medals carry a heavy costing of training, injury, and lonely mornings on the track.

costing of + plural sacrifices

Common collocations
  • costing of effort
  • costing of years
  • costing of sacrifice
Synonyms
  • price

    common metaphor: 'the price of success'

  • toll

    stresses the wearing-down effect over time

  • sacrifice

    more direct word for what you choose to give up

Antonyms
  • reward

    the positive return that follows the effort

Grammar Patterns

the costing of effort / time / sacrifice

Usage Note

Appears mostly in reflective, literary, or motivational writing — speeches, biographies, opinion pieces. Almost always followed by 'of' plus an abstract idea (effort, time, sacrifice). Distinguish from sense 4: this is what you actively give; sense 4 is what you suffer or lose as a result.

Common Mistakes

The costing was big.
The costing of his ambition was huge.
this sense almost always needs an 'of' phrase to say what was given up.

4. the harm, loss, or punishment that someone has to accept when they manage to gai

4.nounC1
Definition

the harm, loss, or punishment that someone has to accept when they manage to gain something else.

Example

The army won the city, but at a costing of thousands of wounded soldiers.

at a costing of + loss

Felix accepted the promotion at the painful costing of his weekends with his children.

costing of + thing lost

Common collocations
  • at a heavy costing
  • the costing in lives
  • the costing of victory
Synonyms
  • price

    common in 'pay the price for something'

  • penalty

    stresses imposed punishment, not voluntary loss

  • casualties

    specifically the human losses in a conflict

Antonyms
  • gain

    what is won rather than lost

Grammar Patterns

a costing of [loss]

at a heavy costing

Usage Note

Common in reflective writing about war, ambition, ethics, or hard choices. Often follows the phrase 'at a costing of' or 'at the costing of'. Distinguish from sense 3: this sense is the negative consequence absorbed in the trade-off; sense 3 is the active effort or sacrifice put in.

Common Mistakes

She got the job, but with much costing.
She got the job, but at great costing.
the natural pairing is 'at + (a/great/heavy) costing of …', not 'with costing'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five terms cover the act of putting numbers on a future expense, but each has a different home in everyday business. A 'costing' is the most analytical of the five — usually a detailed, line-by-line breakdown produced by an accountant or project manager before a decision is made. An 'estimate' is more general and less formal: a teacher might give a parent an estimate of what a school trip will cost without itemising every snack. A 'quote' is specifically a price an outside supplier offers for a defined job (a plumber's quote, a printer's quote), and it normally counts as a binding offer. A 'budget' is the planning ceiling — the total amount you intend to spend across many items — rather than the calculation behind any single one. A 'projection' is broader still and stretches further into the future, often covering revenue and cost together. So a builder might receive three quotes, combine them into a costing for the kitchen, slot that costing into the household budget, and the financial planner would fold the lot into a five-year projection.

costing ↗estimate ↗quote ↗budget ↗projection ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • project costing
  • product costing
  • labour costing
  • material costing

Adverbs

Phrases

  • prepare a costing
  • submit a costing
  • at a heavy costing

Prepositions

  • of (a project)
  • for (a customer)
  • at (a costing of)

Etymology

Latin (constare)Old French (coster)Middle English (costen)Modern English

'Costing' is the gerund and verbal noun of the verb 'cost', which entered English in the 14th century from Old French 'coster' (to be worth). Both trace back to the Latin 'constare', literally 'to stand together' or 'be settled', from which the sense 'to be reckoned at a certain price' developed. The use of 'costing' as a noun for the calculation itself (sense 1) grew up much later, in the rise of industrial bookkeeping in the 1800s, when factory managers needed words for the careful working-out of how much each product would absorb in materials and labour.