liability

[lahy-uh-bil-i-tee] /ˌlaɪ əˈbɪl ɪ ti/
noun, plural liabilities.
1.
liabilities.
  1. moneys owed; debts or pecuniary obligations (opposed to assets).
  2. Accounting. liabilities as detailed on a balance sheet, especially in relation to assets and capital.
2.
something disadvantageous:
His lack of education is his biggest liability.
3.
Also, liableness. the state or quality of being liable:
liability to disease.
Origin
1785-95; li(able) + -ability
Related forms
nonliability, noun, plural nonliabilities.
preliability, noun, plural preliabilities.
Examples from the web for liabilities
  • Of course, this is a tool that can cut both ways, but don't see your age and relative inexperience only as liabilities.
  • But total liabilities, which include short-term and long-term debt, soared.
  • Instead, investors are increasingly pricing in the corporate sector's share of growing fiscal liabilities.
  • Even if that figure overstates the problem, there is little doubt that governments are understating their pensions liabilities.
  • The liabilities will not go away if the expected rate of return fails to materialise.
  • State guarantees for bank liabilities are credible for two reasons.
  • And now they enjoy an implicit blanket guarantee of all their liabilities, allowing them to borrow cheaply.
  • After all, their names and liabilities were already on bank ledgers.
  • As their cash pile dwindles and liabilities fall due, they will be forced to sell, whatever the market conditions.
  • Acceptance of such liabilities coupled with potential allows for growth.
British Dictionary definitions for liabilities

liabilities

/ˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪz/
plural noun
1.
(accounting) business obligations incurred but not discharged and entered as claims on the assets shown on the balance sheet Compare assets (sense 1)

liability

/ˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ/
noun (pl) -ties
1.
the state of being liable
2.
a financial obligation
3.
a hindrance or disadvantage
4.
likelihood or probability
Word Origin and History for liabilities

liability

n.

1790, originally a term in law; "condition of being legally liable;" see liable + -ity. General sense is from 1809; meaning "thing for which one is liable" is first attested 1842. Related: Liabilities.

liabilities in Culture

liability definition


An obligation or debt.