Expendable

//ɪkˈspɛndəbəl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    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."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Able to be expended; not inexhaustible.

    "Oil and other expendable resources are frequently the subject of military disputes."

  2. 2
    Designed for a single use; not reusable.

    "The anti-aircraft rocket is fired from an expendable launch platform."

  3. 3
    Not essential or mandatory in order to achieve a goal.

    "The research department was deemed expendable, and its funding was not renewed."

  4. 4
    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."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (used of funds) remaining after taxes wordnet
  2. 2
    suitable to be expended wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
consumabledispensabledisposableredundantspendablesuperfluous

Example

More examples

""Link!" "Huh?" "Go to Gamelon." "What?" "Take my ship and go to Gamelon." "Why?" "Because, my boy, you are expendable." "No! Screw that." "Go to Gamelon, will you?" "No!" "Damn." "...Fa—" "Zelda, go to Gamelon." "...Alright.""

Etymology

From expend + -able.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.