/kɒst; US kɔ:st ||; kɔst/noun1 [C,U] the money that you have to pay for sth 费用；价格: The cost of petrol has gone up again. 汽油的价格又涨了。The hospital was built at a cost of £10 million. 盖这家医院花了1000万英镑。The damage will have to be repaired regardless of cost. 无论费用多少也要把受损的地方修好。 ☞Look at the note at price. 参看price的注释。
2 [sing] [U] what you have to give or lose in order to obtain sth else 代价；牺牲: He achieved great success but only at the cost of a happy family life. 他牺牲了家庭幸福才换来杰出的成就。
3 costs [pl] the amount of money that the losing side has to pay to the winning side in a court of law 诉讼费用: a £250 fine and £100 costs 250英镑罚款及100英镑诉讼费
at all costs/at any cost using whatever means are necessary to achieve sth 不惜任何代价:
We must win at all costs. 我们要不计代价非赢不可。 cover the cost (of sth)→
COVER¹
to your cost in a way that is unpleasant or bad for you 付出代价；吃了苦头:
Life can be lonely at university, as I found out to my cost. 我因付出过代价才知道，大学生活可能是寂寞的。