expenditure

expenditure — noun

1. the money that a person, company, or government pays out for goods, services, or

1.名詞B2
釋義

the money that a person, company, or government pays out for goods, services, or running costs — often recorded as a total over a week, month, or year.

例句

The government's expenditure on healthcare rose sharply during the pandemic.

expenditure on [area] — shows where money goes

After reviewing the budget, the city council cut its expenditure on new furniture.

cut expenditure on [item] — common verb + preposition pattern

同義詞
  • spending

    less formal, used in everyday contexts; expenditure is preferred in official reports

  • outlay

    focuses on the initial or one-time payment rather than ongoing costs

  • cost

    broader — can mean the price of a single item; expenditure implies a total or planned sum

  • expense

    overlaps significantly, but 'expense' is more common for personal budgets; 'expenditure' sounds more official

反義詞
  • income

    money received, the opposite side of a budget

  • revenue

    money a government or company receives, contrasted with what it pays out

文法句型

expenditure + on + noun phrase

expenditure + of + amount

用法筆記

Frequently used with a possessive determiner (the government's expenditure, our household expenditure) or with 'on' to indicate the area of spending. The plural form 'expenditures' is common when listing multiple separate payments.

常見錯誤

❌The government expenditure on education increased.' (missing article)
✅The government's expenditure on education increased.
💡In formal contexts, use the possessive 'government's' before 'expenditure'.
❌I cannot afford this expenditure of milk.
✅I cannot afford this expenditure on milk.
💡Use 'on', not 'of', when stating what the money is spent on.

2. the using up of a resource such as energy, time, or physical effort for a purpos

2.名詞B2
釋義

the using up of a resource such as energy, time, or physical effort for a purpose — especially when the amount consumed is large.

例句

The team's expenditure of effort on the research project earned them a prize.

expenditure of + effort — resource-consumption sense

Climbing the steep trail required a large expenditure of energy from every hiker.

同義詞
  • consumption

    used especially for energy or fuel; consumption does not cover time well

  • use

    simpler and less formal; expenditure emphasises the amount or cost of what is used

  • spending

    normally limited to money; 'expenditure of energy' is not replaceable by 'spending of energy' in formal English, though it is used informally

反義詞
  • conservation

    the careful saving of resources, opposite of using them up

  • saving

    keeping resources rather than consuming them

文法句型

expenditure of + resource (energy / time / effort / money)

用法筆記

Unlike sense 1, this sense is almost always uncountable. The pattern is 'expenditure of [resource]' — the resource is named after 'of', not 'on'. Common resources used with this sense are 'energy', 'time', 'effort', 'resources', and 'calories'.

常見錯誤

❌There was a large expenditure on time for the project.
✅There was a large expenditure of time on the project.
💡Use 'of' to name the resource being consumed (time, energy, effort), and 'on' to name the activity.
❌I made an expenditure of my free time yesterday.
✅I made a significant expenditure of time on the project yesterday.
💡Add a quantifier (large, significant, considerable) — the phrase sounds odd without one.