LIABILITY

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does liability mean? 

• LIABILITY (noun)
  The noun LIABILITY has 3 senses:

1. the state of being legally obliged and responsible

2. an obligation to pay money to another party

3. the quality of being something that holds you back

  Familiarity information: LIABILITY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIABILITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of being legally obliged and responsible

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("liability" is a kind of...):

susceptibility; susceptibleness (the state of being susceptible; easily affected)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "liability"):

taxability (liability to taxation)

ratability; rateability (the state of being liable to assessment or taxation)

Derivation:

liable (held legally responsible)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An obligation to pay money to another party

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

financial obligation; indebtedness; liability

Hypernyms ("liability" is a kind of...):

obligation (the state of being obligated to do or pay something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "liability"):

limited liability (the liability of a firm's owners for no more than the capital they have invested in the firm)

debt (the state of owing something (especially money))

arrears (the state of being behind in payments)

account payable; payable (a liability account showing how much is owed for goods and services purchased on credit)

scot and lot (obligations of all kinds taken as a whole)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The quality of being something that holds you back

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("liability" is a kind of...):

bad; badness (that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "liability"):

weak point (an attribute that is inadequate or deficient)

disadvantage (the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position)

Antonym:

asset (a useful or valuable quality)

Derivation:

liable (at risk of or subject to experiencing something usually unpleasant)

 Context examples 

A study that assesses the capacity of a substance to become an abuse liability.

(Other Toxicity Studies: Dependence, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

The company sells fully transferable stock, but all shareholders have unlimited liability.

(Joint Stock Company, NCI Thesaurus)

The liability is that his part helplessness will make him more malignant than ever.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Came the day when Grey Beaver, deciding that the liability of her running away was past, released Kiche.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The victim, from my cradle, of pecuniary liabilities to which I have been unable to respond, I have ever been the sport and toy of debasing circumstances.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A type of company, authorized only in certain states, whose owners and managers receive the limited liability and (usually) tax benefits of an S Corporation without having to conform to the S corporation restrictions.

(Limited Liability Partnership, NCI Thesaurus)

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

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I do not deny that he has kept me in the dark as to his resources and his liabilities both, she went on, looking at the wall; but I never will desert Mr. Micawber!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I had often thought of the Micawbers, but chiefly to wonder what pecuniary liabilities they were establishing in Canterbury, and to recall how shy Mr. Micawber was of me when he became clerk to Uriah Heep.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Under these circumstances, alike humiliating to endure, humiliating to contemplate, and humiliating to relate, I have discharged the pecuniary liability contracted at this establishment, by giving a note of hand, made payable fourteen days after date, at my residence, Pentonville, London.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)