expenses
expenses — noun
1. the amounts of money you have to pay in order to do, buy, or have something — fo
the amounts of money you have to pay in order to do, buy, or have something — for example, rent, food, school fees, or travel costs.
Ari and Sophia split the household expenses each month after they moved in together.
split/share + expenses (household budgeting)
Living expenses in Taipei rose sharply after the new metro line opened nearby.
compound: living expenses
Caleb keeps a small notebook to track his daily expenses down to the last coin.
The scholarship covers tuition but not the expenses for textbooks, food, and a dorm room.
Funeral expenses can be a heavy burden on a family that has lost its main earner.
文法句型
expenses on/for + noun
cover/pay expenses
用法筆記
Almost always plural in this sense — '*the expense*' (singular) names a single cost or burden, while 'expenses' names the running total a person, household, or trip generates over time.
常見錯誤
2. money you spend while doing your job — such as taxi rides, hotel rooms, or clien
money you spend while doing your job — such as taxi rides, hotel rooms, or client meals — which your employer later pays back to you.
Diya submitted her expenses for the Tokyo trip and got the money back within a week.
submit + expenses (reimbursement workflow)
Christopher's law firm pays his expenses whenever he travels to meet a client abroad.
pay someone's expenses
Please keep every receipt — the company will only refund expenses you can prove.
Heather took the new auditor out for dinner and put the bill on expenses.
Reporters at the magazine claim travel expenses through an online form every Friday.
- reimbursements
the money that flows back from the employer; 'expenses' is the cost itself
- allowance
a fixed amount given up front, not pay-back of actual receipts
文法句型
claim/submit/reimburse expenses
on expenses
用法筆記
Subject is typically an employee or contractor; the verbs that go with it (claim, submit, refund, reimburse) all imply a back-and-forth with a paying employer. Distinguish from sense 1: these expenses are temporary — the worker is out of pocket only until the employer pays them back.
常見錯誤
3. the costs a business records against the money it earns each year, lowering the
the costs a business records against the money it earns each year, lowering the profit it must pay tax on — for example, salaries, rent on offices, and supplies.
Zayd's accountant listed the studio's rent and electricity as business expenses on the tax return.
list/record + as expenses
Freelance designers in Taiwan can deduct work-related expenses from their taxable income each May.
deduct + expenses (tax context)
The bakery wrote off the broken oven and delivery van as expenses for the financial year.
Tamar advised the small clinic to keep clear records of every operating expense throughout the year.
Personal grocery shopping cannot be claimed as business expenses, no matter who buys the food.
- deductions
what the expenses become on the tax return
- overheads
the ongoing running costs of a business (rent, electricity, salaries)
- revenue
money flowing in, before expenses are subtracted
文法句型
deduct/write off expenses
claim expenses against tax
用法筆記
Frequently appears in compounds that specify the kind: 'business expenses', 'operating expenses', 'capital expenses'. Distinguish from sense 1 by the tax-and-bookkeeping context — these expenses are deliberately tracked because they reduce taxable profit.
常見錯誤
4. a loss, harm, or sacrifice that comes as the price of getting something else — f
a loss, harm, or sacrifice that comes as the price of getting something else — for example, time, health, or another person's feelings.
Antonia won the promotion, but it came at the expense of her marriage and her sleep.
fixed phrase: at the expense of + noun
The factory cut prices at the expense of the quality customers used to love.
at the expense of (trade-off)
Élise grew up watching cousins make jokes at her brother's expense, and it still hurts.
Rin practised the violin for six hours a day, often at the expense of meals and sleep.
Baraka rebuilt the family business, but the success came at considerable expense to his health.
- benefit
the gain rather than the price paid for it
文法句型
at the expense of + noun
at someone's expense
用法筆記
Almost always inside the fixed phrases 'at the expense of (something)' = sacrificing it, and 'at someone's expense' = making them suffer or look foolish. Singular in this sense — never '*at the expenses of*'.
常見錯誤
expenses — verb
1. to write a cost into the company's books as money the business spent that year,
to write a cost into the company's books as money the business spent that year, so that it lowers the year's profit on paper.
Tamar's accountant expensed the new laptops in the same quarter the team bought them.
expense + object (single-year write-off)
Small studios often expense camera gear immediately rather than spread the cost across several years.
expense vs capitalise contrast
Under the new policy, software subscriptions must be expensed monthly, not paid up front for the year.
Christopher asked the bookkeeper to expense the office party as a staff-welfare cost.
- capitalise
spread the cost across several years instead of booking it all this year
文法句型
expense + something
expense + something + to + account
用法筆記
Almost always used by accountants, finance teams, or small-business owners describing how a cost is recorded. The subject is the person doing the bookkeeping, and the object is the item being booked. Frequently passive ('was expensed').
常見錯誤
2. to send a person or department a charge for costs they need to cover — used most
to send a person or department a charge for costs they need to cover — used mostly inside large American firms where one team bills another.
The legal department expensed the marketing team for the outside lawyer's fees last quarter.
expense + person/team + for + cost
Antonia's branch was expensed for the regional training even though no one from her office attended.
passive: be expensed for + cost
Auditors warned that clients should not be expensed for routine in-house photocopying.
Baraka asked head office not to expense his small clinic for the conference catering bill.
- credit
put money back into an account instead of taking it out
文法句型
expense + someone + for + cost
用法筆記
Far less common than sense 1. Almost only seen inside corporate or institutional finance writing, where one unit charges another. In British English, 'invoice' or 'bill' are more usual.