estimate the cost

Meaning

This phrase means to roughly calculate or judge how much money will be needed for a project, service, or purchase before it actually happens. It is commonly used in business, home renovation, and daily planning when you need a budget projection rather than an exact price.

Examples

• Before we start renovating the kitchen, we need to estimate the cost of the materials.

  Before we start renovating the kitchen, we need to estimate the cost of the materials.

• Can you estimate the cost of repairing this laptop, or should I just buy a new one?

  Can you estimate the cost of repairing this laptop, or should I just buy a new one?

• It is difficult to estimate the cost of the trip until we book our flights.

  It is difficult to estimate the cost of the trip until we book our flights.

• The contractor gave us a free consultation to estimate the cost of the new roof.

  The contractor gave us a free consultation to estimate the cost of the new roof.

• They failed to estimate the cost of maintenance, which led to budget overruns later.

  They failed to estimate the cost of maintenance, which led to budget overruns later.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We need to estimate the price of the project.

  ✓ We need to estimate the cost of the project.

  While 'price' is sometimes used, 'estimate the cost' is the standard collocation for calculating overall expenses of an undertaking.

• ✗ They estimated the cost for $500.

  ✓ They estimated the cost at $500.

  Use the preposition 'at' when specifying the estimated amount.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The mechanic needs to ___ before he starts working on the engine.

  💡 calculate the price beforehand

  Show answer

  estimate the cost

• It's always a good idea to ___ of home repairs before hiring a contractor.

  💡 guess the total expense

  Show answer

  estimate the cost