Definition

1. Noun:

   • The amount of money expected, required, or given in payment for something: The sum of money for which a good or service is sold or offered.
   • The cost or sacrifice necessary to achieve or obtain something: What must be given, done, or endured to get something, often non-monetary.
   • The value or worth of something: The estimation of something's worth, which can be material, moral, or abstract.
   • A reward offered for the capture or killing of a person: A sum of money promised for delivering someone, typically a criminal, to justice.

2. Verb:

   • To set or determine the price of something: To decide the monetary value at which something will be sold.
   • To inquire about or ascertain the cost of something: To find out how much something costs.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The price of the new smartphone is very high.
  • He finally achieved his goal, but at a heavy price to his personal life.
  • The price of her loyalty was his complete trust.
  • There was a price on the fugitive's head.

• Verb:

  • The company has not yet priced the new model.
  • We should price several brands before making a decision.

Advanced Usage

• "To put a price on something": To assign a monetary value to something, often something considered priceless.

  • You can't put a price on true friendship.

• "To price oneself out of the market": To set one's prices so high that no one is willing to buy.

  • The artist priced herself out of the market with her latest demands.

• "What price...?" (idiomatic, often rhetorical): Used to question the true cost or value of something, especially when the result seems dubious or not worth the sacrifice.

  • He won the election, but what price fame? He has no private life left.

Variants and Related Words

• Priceless (adj): So valuable that a price cannot be determined; extremely funny or amusing.

  • The museum houses a priceless collection of artifacts.
  • His reaction was priceless.

• Pricey (adj): (Informal) Expensive; having a high price.

  • That restaurant is a bit too pricey for me.

• Price tag (n): A label showing the price of an item for sale; (figuratively) the cost of something.

  • The car still had its price tag on the window.
  • The environmental price tag of the project was enormous.

Synonyms

• Noun: Cost, charge, fee, rate, value, worth, toll, sacrifice.
• Verb: Value, rate, evaluate, cost, tag.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Price in (verb phrase): To include an anticipated future event in the current price or valuation.

  • The stock market has already priced in the expected interest rate hike.

• Price out (verb phrase): To force someone to leave a market or cease an activity by making it too expensive. (See also "price oneself out of the market" under Advanced Usage).

  • Rising rents are pricing out local artists from the neighborhood.

Related Idioms

• At any price: No matter what the cost or sacrifice.

  • He was determined to win the contract at any price.

• Beyond price / Without price: Priceless; of such great value that it cannot be measured in money.

  • The advice she gave me was beyond price.

• Pay the price: To suffer the negative consequences of one's actions.

  • If you don't study, you'll pay the price when you take the exam.

• A price on someone's head: A reward offered for capturing or killing someone.

  • The outlaw rode through the territory with a price on his head.

Noun

1. United States operatic soprano (born 1927)
2. cost of bribing someone
   • they say that every politician has a price
3. a monetary reward for helping to catch a criminal
   • the cattle thief has a price on his head
4. the high value or worth of something
   • her price is far above rubies
5. value measured by what must be given or done or undergone to obtain something
   • the cost in human life was enormous
   • the price of success is hard work
   • what price glory?
6. the amount of money needed to purchase something
   • the price of gasoline
   • he got his new car on excellent terms
   • how much is the damage?
7. the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
   • the fluctuating monetary value of gold and silver
   • he puts a high price on his services
   • he couldn't calculate the cost of the collection

Verb

1. ascertain or learn the price of
   • Have you priced personal computers lately?
2. determine the price of
   • The grocer priced his wares high