war on expenses
1
5.6
- noun
- After the merger, there was a renewed war on expenses with strict limits on travel and supplies.
Examples
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Every department is expected to contribute to the war on expenses by identifying unnecessary spending.
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The new financial manager intensified the war on expenses to help the company stay competitive.
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The company has declared a war on expenses!
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We need to join the war on expenses to improve our profits.
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The new financial manager intensified the war on expenses to help the company stay competitive.
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Every department is expected to contribute to the war on expenses by identifying unnecessary spending.
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After the merger, there was a renewed war on expenses with strict limits on travel and supplies.
Synonyms
19
3.0
Steps a company takes to spend less money
Antonyms
How Aggressive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The expression uses a transparent, conventional metaphor: 'war' understood as a figurative campaign or struggle and 'on' marking the target (expenses). A B1 learner who knows 'war' (figurative campaign), 'on', and 'expense' can readily infer this means a determined effort to reduce or control costs; the 'war on X' pattern is common cross-linguistically and in English media, so the meaning is derivable from the parts.
Etymology
War on expenses paints the picture of a war: imagine managers lining up to fight an enemy called expenses. This image shows a strong, planned push to cut spending, so the phrase now means 'to reduce costs'.