實際付出去的錢
最貼近核心的一組：真正從口袋裡流出去的錢——不管是自己花的，還是先替公司墊、之後再拿回來的。
expense (cost) · noun · B2
The amount of money that you spend on something, or that something costs you.
費用 / 花費
核心畫面
You can picture money being weighed out and handed away — what leaves your pocket to get something. Expense is that outgoing side of money: the amount that flows out of your hands as the price of having, doing, or getting something.
可以想成把錢一份份秤出來、遞出去——為了得到某樣東西，從你手上流出去的那筆錢。expense 抓的就是錢『往外走』的…更多收起
可以想成把錢一份份秤出來、遞出去——為了得到某樣東西，從你手上流出去的那筆錢。expense 抓的就是錢『往外走』的那一面：為了擁有、去做或取得某件事，得從口袋裡付出去的金額。From the word’s history
Expense comes from Latin expendere 'to weigh out money, pay out', made of ex- 'out' + pendere 'to weigh, pay' — pendere meant weighing coins on a balance. So the word is built from the image of money weighed out and paid away, exactly the outgoing money at the core.
expense 來自拉丁語 expendere『把錢秤出來、付出去』，由 ex-『向外』加上 pendere『秤重、支付』組成——pendere 本來就是把錢幣放上天平去秤。所以這個字是從『把錢秤出來、往外付』的畫面長出來的，正是核心那筆往外流的錢。
etymonline.com/word/expense — Late Latin expensa, from expendere 'weigh out money, pay down' (ex- 'out' + pendere 'weigh, pay')
Two branches
由誰承擔的代價
在 at the expense of… 這個說法裡，核心的『付出』被放大了：付帳的不一定是錢，也可能是拿別的東西、別人的面子、或某人的荷包去墊。重點變成『這筆代價記在誰頭上』。
at the expense of · noun · B2
If you do something at the expense of another person or thing, you gain something but harm or lose that other thing.
以…為代價 / 犧牲…
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
expensenoun/ɪkˈspɛns/
- 1
A spending or consuming, often a disbursement of funds.
- She went to great expense to ensure her children would get the best education.
- Buying the car was a big expense, but will be worth it in the long run.
- 2
The elimination or consumption of something, sometimes with the notion of loss or damage to the thing eliminated.
- Jones reached the final at the expense of Smith, who couldn't beat him.
- 3
obsoleteLoss.
- And moan the expense of many a vanished sight.
expenseverb/ɪkˈspɛns/
- 1
To charge a cost against an expense account; to bill something to the company for which one works.
- It should be acceptable to expense a business lunch with a client.
- “Looking snazzy, Mr. Sarner.” “[screams] I have a body.” “Fucking hell. Yes, we brought you back to life.” “I was floating in the eternal glow for a million years. Safe, warm.” “You need to remember what you were going to say to the board of directors to justify expensing a ping ping table.” “I've been here before.” “I've made some flashcards to help jog your memory. "Ping ping increases productivity by 50 percent." I mean, that's bullshit, but let's see if it flies.” “How did I get back on this plane of existence?” “Would you shut up? Literally no one has ever cared about what happens after you die.” “The board is here.” “I need more time, Terry. Sarner's being a baby about his resurrection.” “I traversed the black mountain. Why am I back?” “Okay, I'll just have to stall them with the old razzle-dazzle.”
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。