economy of scale

noun phrase

: a reduction in the cost of producing something (such as a car or a unit of electricity) brought about especially by increased size of production facilities

—usually used in plural

Examples of economy of scale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One is economy of scale of the battery itself, which is the most expensive part of an electric car. — Morgan Korn, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2023

Proponents say their economy of scale helps both with technological needs and with energy efficiency. — Riley Robinson, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Mar. 2025

Soon after, car production became an economy of scale play, the winners being the few large companies that could pump out standardized products on a vast scale that was difficult to imitate. — Michael Ashley, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2026

The high cost of water service in Hialeah is due to multiple factors, including the system structure, economy of scale, franchise fees, bimonthly billing, and water and sewer pipe leaks. — Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 24 July 2024

Starlink and other mega constellations rely on an economy of scale; their massive fleet is continually refreshed with new satellites to replace old ones that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. — Max Springer, Scientific American, 25 June 2024

This scale dwarfs European and North American national markets combined, creating an enormous economy of scale for manufacturers of black paints. — New Atlas, 26 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1944, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for economy of scale

• abigail
• cottontail
• countervail
• fingernail
• martingale
• mesoscale
• microscale
• monorail
• nanoscale
• ponytail
• swallowtail
• wensleydale