expendable

English

Etymology

expend +‎ -able

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspɛndəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Adjective

expendable (comparative more expendable, superlative most expendable)

1. Able to be expended; not inexhaustible.

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

2. Designed for a single use; not reusable.

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

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

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

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.

   • 2020 April 8, Howard Johnston, “East-ended? When the ECML was at risk”, in Rail, page 69:

     The Taunton-Minehead line (now managed by the West Somerset Railway) was considered much more expendable.

Synonyms

• (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

able to be expended

• Bulgarian: потребляем (potrebljaem)
• Finnish: ehtyvä (fi), rajallinen (fi)
• French: consommable (fr) m or f
• German: entbehrlich (de), austauschbar (de)
• Greek: αναλώσιμος (el) (analósimos)
• Manx: yn-vaarail, yn-cheau
• Portuguese: esgotável
• Russian: невозобновляемый (ru) (nevozobnovljajemyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: so-chaitheamh
• Spanish: agotable (es)

designed for a single use

• Bulgarian: за еднократна употреба (za ednokratna upotreba)
• Catalan: d'un sol ús
• Finnish: kertakäyttöinen, kertakäyttö-
• French: jetable (fr) m or f
• German: nicht wiederverwertbar
• Portuguese: descartável (pt)
• Russian: одноразовый (ru) (odnorazovyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: so-chaitheamh
• Spanish: desechable (es)

not essential or mandatory

• Bulgarian: маловажен (bg) (malovažen)
• Catalan: prescindible (ca)
• Czech: postradatelný (cs)
• Finnish: epäolennainen (fi)
• French: facultatif (fr) m
• German: verzichtbar (de), entbehrlich (de)
• Russian: необязательный (ru) (neobjazatelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: so-chaitheamh
• Spanish: prescindible (es)

not worth preserving or saving

• Catalan: prescindible (ca), sacrificable
• Czech: obětovatelný
• Finnish: uhrattavissa oleva, arvoton (fi)
• French: sacrifiable (fr) m or f
• German: verzichtbar (de), aufgebbar
• Portuguese: sacrificável
• Russian: расходный (ru) (rasxodnyj), расходуемый (ru) (rasxodujemyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: so-chaitheamh
• Spanish: sacrificable

Noun

expendable (plural expendables)

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.

Derived terms

• expendability
• expendably

Translations

expendable person or object

• Finnish: kertakäyttötavara