operating expense
8
4.7
- noun
- /ˈɑːpəˌreɪtɪŋ ɪkˈspɛns/
- Specialized
:
gastos operativos
- The school allocated part of its budget to cover routine operating expenses like electricity and supplies.
- hospitals' operating expenses
- operating expenses increased
- reduce operating expenses
The revenues nearly halved last year and their operating expenses nearly doubled last year.
- The revenues nearly halved last year and their operating expenses nearly doubled last year.
Examples
-
For all three forms of ownership, the operating expenses increased at a faster rate than net patient revenue.
Academic text (1993) -
Even in times of lower fuel costs, some 15 percent of airline operating expenses are due to fuel.
Academic text (2009) -
Only $3 billion to $4 billion of operating expenses would fall on the state.
Blog text (17) -
If the design of the facilities can save operating expenses, then the hospital can justify the expense.
Academic text (1996) -
As a result of these changes, the new method of composting has reduced operating expenses.
Academic text (2001) -
Even so, he chose to borrow $1.5 billion to help cover the city's operating expenses.
Academic text (2011) -
As Jerome pointed out, they will always be profitable because operating expenses are so low.
Blog text (32) -
Both large government and private not-for-profit hospitals had operating expenses that increased at a faster rate than net patient revenues.
Academic text (1993) -
Colleges depend increasingly on donors to meet operating expenses as well as to build endowments and fund capital projects.
Academic text (2016) -
The rest of the money goes to brokers' fees and the insurer's operating expenses and profit.
Blog text (4)
Synonyms
524
2.7
An amount of money spent for work or business
42
4.9
Regular costs of running a business like rent and utilities
12
3.5
Money spent to run and maintain a business or building, like utilities and insurance
10
3.0
A cost you pay while running a business, often needed for work
A cost a business has when running its normal work, like travel to meet clients
Antonyms
How Costly
- Specialized
8
4.7
1
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'operating' (relating to running or managing activities) with 'expense' (a cost), so the meaning 'costs of running day-to-day operations' is directly inferable from the parts. This adjective+noun compositional pattern is common and has clear parallels in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand the term.
Etymology
The term operating expense comes from the words operating and expense, where operating means 'running' a business and expense means 'money spent'. Imagine a shop paying rent, electricity and wages to keep working and open, and these regular payments are the costs that keep it running. So, operating expenses are the everyday costs of running a business.