I. price 1 S1 W1 /praɪs/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ overpriced , ↑ priceless , PRICEY/PRICY ; verb : ↑ price ; noun : ↑ price ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: pris , from Latin pretium 'price, money' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] the amount of money you have to pay for something
price of
The price of fuel keeps going up.
price for
We agreed a price for the bike.
Supermarkets often offer you two products for the price of one.
⇨ ↑ asking price , ↑ cost price , ↑ list price , ↑ market price
2 . [singular] something unpleasant that you must suffer in order to be successful, free etc, or that you suffer because of a mistake or bad action
price of
He’s never at home, but that’s the price of success.
The awful boat journey was a small price to pay for freedom.
They may pay a high price for their few years of glory.
The country will pay a heavy price for the government’s failure.
She was finally made senior executive, but at what price!
3 . half/full price used to talk about half the usual price of something, or the actual usual price:
I bought these jeans at half price in the sale.
4 . at a price for a lot of money:
You can get goat’s cheese at the local delicatessen – at a price!
5 . at any price whatever the cost and difficulties may be:
She was determined to have a child at any price.
6 . not at any price used to say that you would not do something, even for a lot of money:
Sorry, that painting’s not for sale at any price.
7 . put a price on something to give something a financial value:
You can’t put a price on what a mother does for her children.
8 . What price fame/glory etc? usually spoken used to suggest that something was not worth achieving because too many bad things have happened as a result:
What price progress?
9 . be beyond price to be extremely valuable or important
10 . price on sb’s head a reward for catching or killing someone
11 . everyone has their price used to say that you can persuade people to do anything if you give them what they want
⇨ cheap at the price at ↑ cheap 1 (8), ⇨ name your price at ↑ name 2 (7), ⇨ pay the price at ↑ pay 1 (9)
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + price
▪ high
House prices in the UK are very high.
▪ low
With such low prices, there are lots of eager buyers.
▪ reasonable (=not too high)
The price was reasonable for such good food.
▪ fair
I am sure we can agree on a fair price.
▪ astronomical (=extremely high)
Many fans paid astronomical prices for their tickets.
▪ exorbitant/extortionate (=much too high)
£10,000 seemed an exorbitant price for the rug.
▪ inflated (=higher than is usual or reasonable)
People seem willing to pay inflated prices for houses in central London.
▪ house/food/oil etc prices
A poor harvest led to higher food prices.
▪ a good price (=quite high)
Did you get a good price for your car?
▪ a bargain price ( also a knockdown/giveaway price ) (=much lower than usual)
We sell quality cars at bargain prices.
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The house is available at a knockdown price of $195,000.
▪ the market price (=the price of something on a market at a particular time)
We think the stock’s current market price is too high.
▪ the asking price (=the amount of money that someone is asking for when they are selling something, especially a house)
The property is worth more than the asking price.
▪ the purchase price formal (=the price that someone pays when they buy something, especially a house)
You can obtain a loan for up to 90% of the purchase price.
▪ the retail price (=the price that the public pays for something in a shop)
Tax is 40% of the retail price of a typical bottle of wine.
▪ the wholesale price (=the price that a business such as a shop pays to buy something)
Wholesale coffee prices have fallen.
■ verbs
▪ a price goes up/rises/increases
When supplies go down, prices tend to go up.
▪ a price goes down/falls/decreases
In real terms, the price of clothes has fallen over the last ten years.
▪ a price shoots up/soars/rockets (=increases quickly by a large amount)
The price of oil soared in the 1970s.
▪ prices fluctuate (=keep going up and down)
Gas prices have continued to fluctuate in recent months.
▪ prices start from £200/$300 etc
Ticket prices start from £39.00.
▪ prices range from £30 to £65 etc
Over 1,000 paintings will be shown with prices ranging from £50 to £5,000.
▪ put up/increase/raise a price
Manufacturers have had to put their prices up.
▪ cut/lower/reduce a price
The company recently cut the price of its best-selling car.
▪ slash a price (=reduce it by a very large amount)
Many carpet stores have slashed prices to bring in customers.
▪ fix a price (=decide on it, sometimes illegally with others)
Publishers are not permitted to fix prices with one another.
▪ agree on a price
Now all we need to do is agree on a price.
▪ pay a good/low etc price
I paid a very reasonable price for my guitar.
▪ get a good/reasonable etc price (=be paid a particular amount for something)
Farmers now get a decent price for their crop.
▪ fetch a good/high etc price British English , bring a good, high etc price American English (=be sold for a particular amount of money)
I’m sure the painting would fetch a good price in London.
■ price + NOUN
▪ a price rise/increase
Consumers are facing more fuel price rises.
▪ a price cut/reduction
Holiday sales were down, even with drastic price cuts.
▪ a price freeze (=when prices are kept at the same level by a company or by the government)
A price freeze on nine basic goods was announced on June 14.
■ PHRASES
▪ a fall/drop in prices
Poor demand led to a sharp drop in prices.
▪ a rise in prices
The sharp rise in wholesale food prices will have to be passed onto customers.
▪ in/outside sb’s price range (=used when saying that someone can/cannot afford to pay for something)
Unfortunately, there was nothing in our price range.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' a convenient price '. Say a reasonable price or a fair price .
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ verbs
▪ pay a price (=suffer)
We paid a heavy price for our mistakes this season.
▪ come at a price ( also come at a high price ) (=involve suffering or a bad result)
She won fame, but it came at a high price.
▪ exact a price formal (=make someone suffer)
The success of the nation’s businesses has exacted a dreadful price from the people.
■ adjectives
▪ a high price
Smokers often pay a high price in terms of their health.
▪ a heavy price
Any country breaking international law will be made to pay a heavy price.
▪ a terrible price
The sport can exact a terrible price from its participants.
■ phrases
▪ something is a small price to pay (=something is worth suffering in order to achieve something more important)
Changing his job would be a small price to pay to keep his marriage intact.
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THESAURUS
▪ price noun [countable] the amount of money that you have to pay for something:
The prices in that shop are rather high.
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You can have a two-course meal for a special price of £9.95.
▪ cost noun [countable] the amount of money that you have to pay for services, activities, or things you need such as food and electricity:
The cost of the two-day course is $1,295.
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Many banks are raising their borrowing costs.
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a sudden increase in energy costs
▪ value noun [uncountable and countable] the amount of money that something is worth and that people are willing to pay if it is sold:
The value of the painting was estimated at £500,000.
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Fine wines may increase in value.
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The shares have gone down in value.
II. price 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ overpriced , ↑ priceless , PRICEY/PRICY ; verb : ↑ price ; noun : ↑ price ]
1 . [usually in passive] to decide the price of something that is for sale:
a reasonably priced apartment
be priced at something
Tickets are priced at £75 each.
2 . to put the price on goods to show how much they cost
3 . to compare the prices of things:
We spent Saturday morning pricing microwaves.
4 . price yourself out of the market to demand too much money for the services or goods that you are selling
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adverbs
▪ highly priced (=expensive)
The clothes shops all seemed to be full of highly priced designer clothes.
▪ reasonably priced (=not too expensive)
The food was good and reasonably priced.
▪ moderately priced (=not expensive)
On the outskirts of many towns, you will find moderately priced motels.
▪ competitively/keenly priced (=not expensive compared with similar things)
Lower costs meant that Japanese exports remained competitively priced.
▪ modestly priced (=cheap)
There are some very modestly priced artificial plants to be had.
▪ attractively priced (=not expensive)
These figurines are attractively priced at £32.