expense和cost在用法上有什么区别?

expense和cost在用法上有什么区别?
expense和cost在用法上有什么区别?

expense和cost在用法上有什么区别?
cost 可以做动词,cost sb.,强调"成本"
expense 强调"费用;支出;经费"
I don't think we can afford the expense.
He said the office expenses were too big.

前面用于“开销”，后者指的很广。

cost可以做动词，而expense 强调"费用;支出;经费"

expense
noun
1 [U] when you spend or use money, time or effort:
Buying a bigger car has proved to be well worth the expense.
We've just had a new garage built at great expense.

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expense
noun
1 [U] when you spend or use money, time or effort:
Buying a bigger car has proved to be well worth the expense.
We've just had a new garage built at great expense.
We went on holiday at my father's expense (= he paid for it).
It's silly to go to the expense of (= spend money on) buying new clothes when you don't really need them.
2 [C] something which causes you to spend money:
Our biggest expense this year was our summer holiday.
We need to cut down on our expenses.
expenses
plural noun
money that you spend when you are doing your job, that your employer will pay back to you:
I need to get my expenses approved.
UK Don't worry about the cost of lunch - it's on expenses.
expensive
adjective
costing a lot of money:
Rolls Royces are very expensive.
Big houses are expensive to maintain.
She has expensive tastes (= she likes things that cost a lot of money).
expensively
adverb
Sarah is always very expensively dressed (= she wears clothes that cost a lot of money).
cost (MONEY)
noun [U]
the amount of money needed to buy, do or make something:
When you buy a new computer, you usually get software included at no extra cost (= for no additional money).
For many parents, two salaries are essential to cover the cost of (= pay for) school fees.
The supermarket chain announced that it was cutting the cost (= reducing the price) of all its fresh and frozen meat.
It's difficult for most people to cope with the rising cost of (= increasing price of) healthcare.
I was able to buy the damaged goods at cost (= for only the amount of money needed to produce or get the goods, without any extra money added for profit).
costs
plural noun
the cost of something:
We need to cut our advertising costs.
The estimated costs of the building project are well over £1 million.
cost
verb [T] cost, cost
If something costs an amount of money, you must pay that amount to buy or do it:
"How much does this book cost (= What is the price of this book)?" "It costs £25."
It costs a lot to buy a house in this part of London.
[+ two objects] The trip will cost you $1000.
cost
verb [T] costed, costed
to calculate the future cost of something:
How carefully did you cost the materials for the new fence and gate?
Has your scheme been properly costed (out)?
costing
noun [C often plural; U]
(a) calculation of the future cost of something such as a possible product:
We'll need accurate costings before we can agree to fund the scheme.
costly
adjective
expensive:
a costly item
a costly purchase
DISAPPROVING The project was subject to several costly delays/setbacks.
costliness
noun [U]
cost (SOMETHING GIVEN)
noun [S or U]
something which is given, needed or lost in order to obtain a particular thing:
We were going to paint the house ourselves, but when we considered the cost in time and effort, we decided to get a painter to do it for us.
The driver managed not to hit the child who ran in front of his car, but only at the cost of injuring himself.
She has finally got the job she wanted, but at great personal cost (= she has had to give up other things that were important to her).
It's not worth getting into an argument with Tim, as I learned to my cost (= from my unpleasant experience of having done so).
cost
verb [T] cost, cost
to cause someone to lose or destroy something valuable:
Drinking and driving costs lives (= can cause accidents in which people die).
[+ two objects] His affairs cost him his marriage (= his marriage ended because of them).
costly
adjective
Building this bridge has already been too costly in terms of lives (= people have been killed while working on it).
costliness
noun [U]
Use a good English only dictionary to learn difference of meaning in words, more useful than an English-Chinese dictionary for this.
This comes from: http://cambridge.dictionary.org
Also you can try http://www.dictionary.com

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expense和cost都有消费 费用 代价的意思,但是expense还有予算 开支 结算的专门用途,而cost还可用于吃亏 损失的特除用途.因此expense多用于正式场合,而cost多用于口语.