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expendable. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
expendable, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
expendable in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
expendable you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From expend + -able.
Pronunciation
Adjective
expendable (comparative more expendable, superlative most expendable)
- Able to be expended; not inexhaustible.
Oil and other expendable resources are frequently the subject of military disputes.
- Designed for a single use; not reusable.
The anti-aircraft rocket is fired from an expendable launch platform.
- Not essential or mandatory in order to achieve a goal.
The research department was deemed expendable, and its funding was not renewed.
- Regarded as not worth preserving or saving; able to be sacrificed.
In the internecine rivalries of large corporations, whole departments may become expendable in the execution of one executive's power play.
1997, G. Cajetan Luna, Youths Living with HIV: Self-Evident Truths, page 10:He was expendable, like commodities past their use.
2020 April 8, Howard Johnston, “East-ended? When the ECML was at risk”, in Rail, page 69:The Taunton-Minehead line (now managed by the West Somerset Railway) was considered much more expendable.
Synonyms
- (not inexhaustible): exhaustible, finite, limited
- (not reusable): dispensable, disposable, throwaway
- (not essential or mandatory): adjunct, dispensable, redundant, superfluous
- (not worth saving or preserving): collateral, inconsiderable, sacrificable, worthless
Derived terms
Translations
not worth preserving or saving
Noun
expendable (plural expendables)
- An expendable person or object; usually used in the plural.
Private Johnson was afraid the Lieutenant considered him an expendable, since he was always picked as point man.
Derived terms
Translations
expendable person or object