expendable

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Able to be expended

   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

   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.
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   1. 4

      Regarded as not worth preserving or saving

      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.
      • He was expendable, like commodities past their use.
      • The Taunton-Minehead line (now managed by the West Somerset Railway) was considered much more expendable.
   2. 5

      An expendable person or object

      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.

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