expendable

About 0.55 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. adjective Able to be expended; not inexhaustible.

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

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

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

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

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

4. adjective 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.

5. noun 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.

Similar words

disposable spendable consumable sacrificeable ejectable dead sustainable replaceable usable interchangeable

Often followed by

and in launch trust supplies as income items for

Word family

expendabilities expendability expendables