at a cost
idiom
: by giving up something else
He had achieved fame, but at a cost; he'd lost many friends and no longer talked to anyone in his family.
Examples of at a cost in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Like Broadnax, Council Member Ryan Alter regularly expensed solo meals, doing so more than 70 times at a cost of $1,200.
—
Ella McCarthy, Austin American Statesman, 31 July 2025
Over the course of two decades, the United States bought over 500 Predators and Reapers (at a cost of tens of billions of dollars) and used them to conduct thousands of drone strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, and a host of other countries.
—Jacquelyn Schneider, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2025
Instead, the water authority picks the subcontractor at a cost that may not be competitive.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 26 July 2025
Once complete, it is supposed to house up to 3,000 detainees a day at a cost of $450 million a year.
—Jeffrey Schweers, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for at a cost
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Ella McCarthy, Austin American Statesman, 31 July 2025
Over the course of two decades, the United States bought over 500 Predators and Reapers (at a cost of tens of billions of dollars) and used them to conduct thousands of drone strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, and a host of other countries.
—Jacquelyn Schneider, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2025
Instead, the water authority picks the subcontractor at a cost that may not be competitive.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 26 July 2025
Once complete, it is supposed to house up to 3,000 detainees a day at a cost of $450 million a year.
—Jeffrey Schweers, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for at a cost
Cite this Entry
“At a cost.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/at%20a%20cost. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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