there is no such thing as a free lunch

idiom

used to say that it is not possible to get something that is desired or valuable without having to pay for it in some way

Examples of there is no such thing as a free lunch in a Sentence

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But there is no such thing as a free lunch, so reducing the risk of this threat may be costly. Tomas J. Philipson, Chicago Tribune, 4 Sep. 2025 However, as the American saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Andrea Pietrini, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 To put it simply, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Dj Nordquist, Foreign Affairs, 12 Jan. 2023

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“There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/there%20is%20no%20such%20thing%20as%20a%20free%20lunch. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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