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cost sb dear

Definition

to cause someone to spend a lot of money or lose money: Buying that second-hand car without having it checked by a mechanic first cost us dear.Costing too muchExpensive and luxurious to cause someone a lot of problems: Later that year he attacked a photographer, an incident that cost him dear.Damaging and spoilingDestroying and demolishing
(Definition of cost sb dear from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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