— priceable , adj.
/pruys/ , n. , v. , priced, pricing .
n.
1. the sum or amount of money or its equivalent for which anything is bought, sold, or offered for sale.
2. a sum offered for the capture of a person alive or dead: The authorities put a price on his head.
3. the sum of money, or other consideration, for which a person's support, consent, etc., may be obtained, esp. in cases involving sacrifice of integrity: They claimed that every politician has a price.
4. that which must be given, done, or undergone in order to obtain a thing: He gained the victory, but at a heavy price.
5. odds (def. 2).
6. Archaic. value or worth.
7. Archaic. great value or worth (usually prec. by of ).
8. at any price , at any cost, no matter how great: Their orders were to capture the town at any price.
9. beyond or without price , of incalculable value; priceless: The crown jewels are beyond price.
v.t.
10. to fix the price of.
11. to ask or determine the price of: We spent the day pricing furniture at various stores.
[ 1175-1225; (n.) ME pris ( e ) pretium price, value, worth (cf. PRECIOUS); (v.) late ME prisen prisier, deriv. of pris, OF as above; see PRIZE 2 , PRAISE ]
Syn. 1, 4. PRICE, CHARGE, COST, EXPENSE refer to outlay or expenditure required in buying or maintaining something. PRICE is used mainly of single, concrete objects offered for sale; CHARGE, of services: What is the price of that coat? There is a small charge for mailing packages. COST is mainly a purely objective term, often used in financial calculations: The cost of building a new annex was estimated at $10,000. EXPENSE suggests cost plus incidental expenditure: The expense of the journey was more than the contemplated cost. Only CHARGE is not used figuratively. PRICE, COST, and sometimes EXPENSE may be used to refer to the expenditure of mental energy, what one "pays" in anxiety, suffering, etc.