expendable
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
Adjective [edit]
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.
- That which is 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.
Synonyms [edit]
- (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
Translations [edit]
Able to be expended; not inexhaustible
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Designed for a single use; not reusable
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Not essential or mandatory in order to achieve a goal
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That which is regarded as not worth preserving or saving
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Noun [edit]
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.
