liability

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Related to liability: capital, revenue, Assets and Liabilities, Total Liabilities

li·a·bil·i·ty

(lī′ə-bĭl′ĭ-tē)

n. pl. li·a·bil·i·ties

1. The state of being liable.

a. Something for which one is liable; an obligation, responsibility, or debt.

b. liabilities The financial obligations entered in the balance sheet of a business enterprise.

3. Something that holds one back; a handicap.

4. Likelihood.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

liability

(ˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. the state of being liable

2. (Banking & Finance) a financial obligation

3. a hindrance or disadvantage

4. likelihood or probability

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

li•a•bil•i•ty

(ˌlaɪ əˈbɪl ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. liabilities,

a. moneys owed; debts or pecuniary obligations (opposed to assets).

b. liabilities as detailed on a balance sheet, esp. in relation to assets and capital.

2. something disadvantageous: His lack of funds is his biggest liability.

3. Also, li′a•ble•ness. the state or quality of being liable.

[1785–95]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	liability - the state of being legally obliged and responsible susceptibility, susceptibleness - the state of being susceptible; easily affected taxability - liability to taxation ratability, rateability - the state of being liable to assessment or taxation
	2.	liability - an obligation to pay money to another party financial obligation, indebtedness limited liability - the liability of a firm's owners for no more than the capital they have invested in the firm obligation - the state of being obligated to do or pay something; "he is under an obligation to finish the job" debt - the state of owing something (especially money); "he is badly in debt" arrears - the state of being behind in payments; "an account in arrears" account payable, payable - a liability account showing how much is owed for goods and services purchased on credit; "the problem was to match receivables and payables in the same currency" scot and lot - obligations of all kinds taken as a whole
	3.	liability - the quality of being something that holds you back bad, badness - that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency; "take the bad with the good" weak point - an attribute that is inadequate or deficient disadvantage - the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position asset, plus - a useful or valuable quality

liability

noun

1. disadvantage, burden, drawback, inconvenience, drag, handicap, minus (informal), nuisance, impediment, albatross, hindrance, millstone, encumbrance What was once a vote-catching policy is now a political liability.

2. responsibility, accountability, culpability, obligation, onus, answerability They admit liability, but dispute the amount of his claim.

3. tendency, susceptibility, proneness, likelihood, probability anyone whose medical history shows a liability to thromboses

plural noun

1. debts, expenditure, debit, arrears, obligations, accounts payable The company had liabilities of $250 million.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

liability

noun

1. A condition of owing something to another:

arrearage, arrears, indebtedness, debt, obligation.

2. The condition of being laid open to something undesirable or injurious:

exposure, openness, susceptibility, susceptibleness, vulnerability, vulnerableness.

3. Something, such as money, owed by one person to another:

arrearage, arrears, debt, due, indebtedness, obligation.

Translations

تَعَرُّض لِ، إحْتِمال، مَسؤوليَّه

závaznost

ansvarerstatningsansvar

Haftung Neigung

carga responsabilidad

responsabilité

hajlamosság

ábyrgî; skaîabótaskylda

debito obbligo peso predisposizione problema

belastning

záväznosť

sorumlulukyükümlülük

倾向

liability

[ˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ]

A. N

1. (= responsibility) → responsabilidad f
to admit/deny liability (for sth) → admitir/negar ser responsable (de algo)

2. (= obligation, debt) tax liability → carga f fiscal
current liabilities → pasivo msing circulante
long-term liabilities → pasivo msing (exigible) a largo plazo
they failed to meet their liabilities → no hicieron frente a sus obligaciones
see also limited B
see also unlimited B

3. (= risk, burden) I do not want to be a liability to you → no quiero ser una carga or un estorbo para ti
this car's a bit of a liability → este coche da muchos problemas

4. (= propensity) → predisposición f, propensión f (to a) the patient may have an increased liability to infection → el paciente puede tener una mayor predisposición or propensión a las infecciones

B. CPD liability insurance N → seguro m de daños a terceros, seguro m de responsabilidad civil (Sp)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

liability

[ˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪti]

(= responsibility) → responsabilité f
to admit liability for sth → admettre sa responsabilité dans qch
liability for tax, tax liability → assujettissement à l'impôt

(= drawback)
She had become a liability to her party → Elle était devenu un handicap pour son parti.

liabilities npl (= debts) → passif m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

liability

(= burden) → Belastung f

(= being subject to) one’s liability for tax → jds Steuerpflicht f; he has a tax liability of £1,000 → er muss £ 1000 Steuern bezahlen; liability to pay damages → Schadensersatzpflicht f

(= proneness) → Anfälligkeit f → (to für); his liability to digestive disorders → seine Anfälligkeit für Verdauungsstörungen

(= responsibility) → Haftung f; we accept no liability for … → wir übernehmen keine Haftung für …; his liability for his wife’s debts → seine Haftung or Haftbarkeit für die Schulden seiner Frau

(Fin) liabilities → Verbindlichkeiten pl, → Verpflichtungen pl

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

liability

[ˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ] n (Law) (responsibility) → responsabilità f inv; (burden) → peso; (person) → peso morto
see also liabilities

liable

(ˈlaiəbl) adjective

1. (with to) tending to have, get, suffer from etc. This road is liable to flooding; He is liable to pneumonia.

2. possibly or probably about (to do something or to happen). Watch the milk – it's liable to boil over.

3. legally responsible (for). The airline is liable to you for any damage to your luggage.

4. likely to get (a fine, a punishment). Do not litter! Offenders are liable to fines of up to $100.

ˌliaˈbility noun

liability

n. riesgo, responsabilidad de pago.

References in classic literature ?

"Ah, I see," the Noser said, thoughtfully; "it is a liability. May I ask how you expect to meet it?"

View in context

There were accidents to machinery, the liability of trains to run off the line, collisions, bad weather, the blocking up by snow--were not all these against Phileas Fogg?

View in context

When Mr Balfour replied to the allegations that the Roman Empire sank under the weight of its military obligations, he said that this was 'wholly unhistorical.' He might well have added that the Roman power was at its zenith when every citizen acknowledged his liability to fight for the State, but that it began to decline as soon as this obligation was no longer recognized."--Pall Mall Gazette, 15th May 1906.

View in context

It took of course more than that particular passage to place us together in presence of what we had now to live with as we could-- my dreadful liability to impressions of the order so vividly exemplified, and my companion's knowledge, henceforth--a knowledge half consternation and half compassion--of that liability.

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It may be but an idle whim, but it has always seemed to me, that the extraordinary vacillations of movement displayed by some whales when beset by three or four boats; the timidity and liability to queer frights, so common to such whales;

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To re- move the liability of such misapprehension, I deem it proper to append the following brief explanation.

View in context

I remember his insisting very especially (among other things) upon the idea that the principle source of error in all human investigations lay in the liability of the understanding to under-rate or to over-value the importance of an object, through mere mis-admeasurement of its propinquity.

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With them, being tree-dwellers, the liability of falling was an ever-present menace.

View in context

He quite realises my idea of King Lear, as he appeared when in possession of his kingdom, Mr Richard--the same good humour, the same white hair and partial baldness, the same liability to be imposed upon.

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Cassy had always kept over Legree the kind of influence that a strong, impassioned woman can ever keep over the most brutal man; but, of late, she had grown more and more irritable and restless, under the hideous yoke of her servitude, and her irritability, at times, broke out into raving insanity; and this liability made her a sort of object of dread to Legree, who had that superstitious horror of insane persons which is common to coarse and uninstructed minds.

View in context

For the honor of humanity, let me add that the liability which I had undertaken made no very serious demands on my resources.

View in context

The liability of shipping another such sea was enormously increased by the water that weighed the boat down and robbed it of its buoyancy.