at the cost of
idiom
: by giving up or hurting (something else)
She completed the project on time but at the cost of her health.
Examples of at the cost of in a Sentence
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The state’s political appetite to keep transitioning away from oil has been clearly ebbing as residents balk at the cost of everything in California, most notably the chronically high cost of gasoline and the periodic spikes during a hiccup in production.
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Tom Philp, Mercury News, 8 Jan. 2026
More refined versions are filtered and heat-treated, resulting in a lighter color, milder flavor and higher smoke point, though at the cost of fewer bioactive nutrients.
—Daryl Austin, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
Ukraine has compensated by embracing a decentralized structure that allows flexibility and adaptation, but at the cost of scale and coordination.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 28 Dec. 2025
Thus, at the cost of electronic complexity and power consumption, an AEC can extend the distance that copper can reach.
—IEEE Spectrum, 27 Dec. 2025
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Tom Philp, Mercury News, 8 Jan. 2026
More refined versions are filtered and heat-treated, resulting in a lighter color, milder flavor and higher smoke point, though at the cost of fewer bioactive nutrients.
—Daryl Austin, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
Ukraine has compensated by embracing a decentralized structure that allows flexibility and adaptation, but at the cost of scale and coordination.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 28 Dec. 2025
Thus, at the cost of electronic complexity and power consumption, an AEC can extend the distance that copper can reach.
—IEEE Spectrum, 27 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for at the cost of
Cite this Entry
“At the cost of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/at%20the%20cost%20of. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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