the damage

the damage

The price of something. This dress is gorgeous, but I don't want to try it on until I find out what the damage would be.
See also: damage
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

the damage

The cost or price of something, as in So what's the damage for this outfit? This seemingly modern slangy phrase, with damage alluding to the harm done to one's pocketbook, was first recorded in 1755.
See also: damage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

damage

n. the cost; the amount of the bill (for something). (see also bad news.) As soon as I pay the damage, we can go.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • damage control
  • hail damage
  • bash up
  • play Old Harry with (something)
  • play the devil with
  • play the devil with (something)
  • play the devil with someone/something
  • closing the stable door after the horse has bolted
  • be playing with fire
References in classic literature
His mind was rather hazy concerning the damage suit.
"He should a-got the damages. He was a good worker an' never made trouble."
Now, the Big-endian exiles have found so much credit in the emperor of Blefuscu's court, and so much private assistance and encouragement from their party here at home, that a bloody war has been carried on between the two empires for six-and-thirty moons, with various success; during which time we have lost forty capital ships, and a much a greater number of smaller vessels, together with thirty thousand of our best seamen and soldiers; and the damage received by the enemy is reckoned to be somewhat greater than ours.
I know you make a great deal of money by this kind of thing, but consider the damage you inflict upon the business of others!"
He could not afford to make good the damage done, and he had so little money left that he must find cheaper lodgings still.
Further, the enemy would naturally on his arrival at once burn and ruin the country at the time when the spirits of the people are still hot and ready for the defence; and, therefore, so much the less ought the prince to hesitate; because after a time, when spirits have cooled, the damage is already done, the ills are incurred, and there is no longer any remedy; and therefore they are so much the more ready to unite with their prince, he appearing to be under obligations to them now that their houses have been burnt and their possessions ruined in his defence.
No matter what the damage was, but it was serious enough to induce me to go aloft myself with a couple of hands and the carpenter to see the temporary repairs properly done.
The Prince of Helium chafed and fretted at the slowness of his pursuit, yet he was thankful that the damage was no worse, for now he could at least move more rapidly than on foot.
The damage to the buoyancy tanks had evidently been more grievous than he had at first believed.
Enamoured of the tropics, despite the damage done me, I stopped in various places, and was a long while getting back to the splendid, temperate climate of California.
But he that condemns him is guilty of perjury if he sentences him to pay twenty minae while he believes the damages ought not to be so much.
Also to be considered is the damage to the firm's reputation.
Therefore, police departments must be prepared to deal with the aftermath of bomb detonations in highly concentrated business districts to reduce deaths and injuries, to preserve the crime scene, to investigate the crime successfully, and to help local businesses recover quickly from the damage.
The major issue in the study of neuro-psychological results of rubella in-utero seems to be the question of whether rubella causes typical developmental difference in the embryo or feotus, or whether the damage done by rubella is the result of the haphazard destruction resulting from inflammation.
First, the sheer size and diverse nature of the damage has demanded far greater than usual resources.