CHEAP


Meaning of CHEAP in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ tʃi:p ]

( cheaper, cheapest)

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.

1.

Goods or services that are cheap cost less money than usual or than you expected.

Smoke detectors are cheap and easy to put up...

Running costs are coming down because of cheaper fuel...

They served breakfast all day and sold it cheap.

≠ expensive, dear

ADJ : v-link ADJ , ADJ n , v n ADJ

• cheap‧ly

It will produce electricity more cheaply than a nuclear plant.

ADV : ADV after v

• cheap‧ness

The cheapness and simplicity of the design makes it ideal for our task.

N-UNCOUNT

2.

If you describe goods as cheap , you mean they cost less money than similar products but their quality is poor.

Don’t resort to cheap copies; save up for the real thing.

...a tight suit made of some cheap material.

= shoddy

ADJ : ADJ n

3.

If you describe someone’s remarks or actions as cheap , you mean that they are unkindly or insincerely using a situation to benefit themselves or to harm someone else.

These tests will inevitably be used by politicians to make cheap political points.

ADJ : ADJ n [ disapproval ]

4.

If you describe someone as cheap , you are criticizing them for being unwilling to spend money. ( AM )

Oh, please, Dad, just this once don’t be cheap.

= mean

ADJ : usu v-link ADJ [ disapproval ]

5.

If someone does or buys something on the cheap , they spend less money than they should because they are more concerned with what it costs than with its quality. ( INFORMAL )

Most modern housing estates are terrible and inevitably done on the cheap.

PHRASE : PHR after v [ disapproval ]

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Английский словарь Коллинз COBUILD для изучающих язык на продвинутом уровне.