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Definition of worth noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

worth

noun
 
/wɜːθ/
 
/wɜːrθ/
[uncountable]Idioms
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  1. ten dollars’, £40, etc. worth of something an amount of something that has the value mentioned
    • The winner will receive fifty pounds' worth of books.
    • The floods caused tens of millions of pounds' worth of damage.
    • a dollar’s worth of change
  2. a week’s, month’s, etc. worth of something an amount of something that lasts a week, etc.
  3. the financial, practical or moral value of somebody/something
    • Their contribution was of great worth.
    • The activities help children to develop a sense of their own worth.
    • A good interview enables candidates to prove their worth (= show how good they are).
    see also net worth
    Extra Examples
    • Asking for advice from people affirms their personal worth.
    • Can you give me some estimate of its worth?
    • Cutting out the debts will increase your net worth.
    • He never contributed anything of worth to the conversation.
    • I only found out its real worth when I tried to buy another one.
    • She has no sense of her own worth.
    • She knows her own worth.
    • Some experts doubt the economic worth of the project.
    • Study has an intrinsic worth, as well as helping you achieve your goals.
    • The emergency lighting has proved its worth this year.
    • The insurance company agreed to pay the car's current market worth.
    • They are looking for a new sales manager of proven worth.
    • They don't appreciate her at her real worth.
    • This necklace isn't worth anything in money terms, but its worth to me is incalculable.
    • A good job interview should help candidates prove their worth.
    • The children here quickly gain a sense of their own worth.
    Topics Moneyb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • real
    • true
    • inherent
    verb + worth
    • have
    • demonstrate
    • prove
    preposition
    • of worth
    • worth to
    phrases
    • a sense of (your own) worth
    See full entry
  4. Word OriginOld English w(e)orth (adjective and noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch waard and German wert.
Idioms
get your money’s worth
  1. to get enough value or pleasure out of something, considering the amount of money, time, etc. that you are spending on it
    • Let’s spend all day there and really get our money’s worth.
    • The boat trip lasts three hours, so you certainly get your money's worth.
Synonyms pricepricecost value expense worthThese words all refer to the amount of money that you have to pay for something.price the amount of money that you have to pay for an item or service:
  • house prices
  • How much are these? They don’t have a price on them.
  • I can’t afford it at that price.
cost the amount of money that you need in order to buy, make or do something:
  • A new computer system has been installed at a cost of £80 000.
value how much something is worth in money or other goods for which it can be exchanged:
  • The winner will receive a prize to the value of £1 000.
Especially in British English, value can also mean how much something is worth compared with its price: This restaurant is excellent value (= is worth the money it costs).
price, cost or value?The price is what somebody asks you to pay for an item or service: to ask/​charge a high priceto ask/​charge a high cost/​value. Obtaining or achieving something may have a cost; the value of something is how much other people would be willing to pay for it: house pricesthe cost of moving houseThe house now has a market value of one million pounds. expense the money that you spend on something; something that makes you spend money:
  • The garden was transformed at great expense.
  • Running a car is a big expense.
worth the financial value of somebody/​something:
  • He has a personal net worth of $10 million.
Worth is more often used to mean the practical or moral value of something.
Patterns
  • the high price/​cost/​value
  • the real/​true price/​cost/​value/​worth
  • to put/​set a price/​value on something
  • to increase/​reduce the price/​cost/​value/​expense
  • to raise/​double/​lower the price/​cost/​value
  • to cut the price/​cost
put in your two cents’ worth (North American English)
(British English put in your two pennyworth, put in your two penn’orth)
  1. (informal) to give your opinion about something, even if other people do not want to hear itTopics Opinion and argumentc2
See worth in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee worth in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
sufficiently
adverb
 
 
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