price (noun, verb) LISTEN
A price tells us how much we have to pay if we want to buy something.
- The price of electricity is high this year.
A price is something bad or difficult that has to happen so that you can have something good
- I don’t like going to the dentist, but it’s the price of having good teeth.
Don't confuse it with
A prize is something that you win in a competition. For example, the prize in a lottery is usually money.
Common uses
When we talk about the price of something (meaning 2), we can also say that something is “a small price to pay.” For example, “I hate going to the gym, but it’s a small price to pay for a healthy body.”
In pop culture
In the 2012 movie Pitch Perfect, a group sings a version of the Jessie J song “Price Tag.” Can you hear the first words of the song, “Seems like everybody’s got a price”? That means that people will do things they don’t want to do, if they have a motivation.
Price has other uses.
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