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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But the plan also reveals Beijing’s reluctance to depart from a formula that has yielded growth at the cost of imbalances that have hurt many households across the vast country. Shaoyu Yuan, The Conversation, 5 Nov. 2025 But Kwei fights back, saving Dek’s life at the cost of his own. Damon Wise, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2025 The governor wants to intervene to protect the poultry industry at the cost of clean water in their state, the Oklahoma attorney general replied Tuesday. Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2025 Still, the Oilers have Emberson in a depth role and then augmented the blue line last March by adding Jake Walman — at the cost of a 2026 first-round pick. Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for at the cost of

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“At the cost of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/at%20the%20cost%20of. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

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