Meaning of liability in English:

liability

Pronunciation /ˌlʌɪəˈbɪlɪti/

See synonyms for liability

Translate liability into Spanish

nounplural noun liabilities

1mass noun The state of being legally responsible for something.
‘once you contact the card protection scheme your liability for any loss ends’
- ‘She gave birth to a healthy child, and the respondents accepted liability for negligence.’
- ‘The distinction between liability for acts and liability for omissions is well known.’
- ‘There is no legal prohibition denying the Community the right to accept liability for private acts of its servants.’
- ‘Thus by statutory provision banks can avoid liability for breach of the duty of confidentiality.’
- ‘Legal experts will be on hand at the seminars to help clients minimise any potential inheritance tax liability.’
- ‘Hence, foreign corporations do not incur capital gains tax liability.’
- ‘If income from the foreign employment contract is not remitted into Ireland, no Irish income tax liability arises.’
- ‘Now no one can know the extent of potential criminal liability under federal law.’
- ‘The municipality is pursued for its vicarious liability for the negligence of its employee.’
- ‘At one time there was some confusion over the basis of an employer's vicarious liability.’
- ‘The action was brought against the referee, for whom the Union accepted vicarious liability.’
- ‘Once the buyer has shown goods to be defective, strict liability arises for their consequences.’
- ‘The statute does not impose strict liability on a municipality.’
- ‘Significantly, however, the federal statute does not impose criminal liability for cruel, inhuman, or degrading acts.’
- ‘In distributing an issuer's securities, a bank can obviously incur legal liability through its own conduct.’
- ‘Legal systems differ in their approaches to the principles which determine the criminal liability of companies.’
- ‘Each directly impacts public safety and incurs civil liability.’
- ‘Counsel for the appellants argues that those words are not sufficiently precise to exclude liability for negligence.’
- ‘You say that this is product liability for property damage.’
- ‘The bank's liability in such cases is discussed in Chapter 12.’
accountability, responsibility, legal responsibility, answerability
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1. 1.1usually liabilitiescount noun A thing for which someone is responsible, especially an amount of money owed.
  ‘valuing the company's liabilities and assets’
  ‘For the other sectors, balance sheet data are limited to financial assets and liabilities.’
  ‘We want to retire with the largest possible pot of assets and the least amount of liabilities.’
  ‘This will include taking into account accrued liabilities and assets.’
  ‘This disclosed an excess of liabilities over assets amounting to £677,000.’
  ‘The agreement posits a balance of assets and liabilities, not a deficit.’
  ‘However, net wealth is the value of our total assets less our financial liabilities.’
  ‘This was to allow it to match its pension fund liabilities with more predictable bond earnings.’
  ‘I thought it required a far more disciplined approach to managing assets and liabilities.’
  ‘Current assets or liabilities are those with an expected life of less than 12 months.’
  ‘In many cases the excess of assets over liabilities in respect of pensioners can be released and used to augment pensions.’
  ‘Over the course of the quarter, the company took steps to realign assets and liabilities.’
  ‘Most bogus non-resident account holders died with undeclared assets and tax liabilities.’
  ‘It is also beneficial to take a close look at ballooning household assets and liabilities.’
  ‘They need to understand the concept of matching assets with liabilities.’
  ‘The books and records must contain all details of the company's assets, liabilities and stocks.’
  ‘Projected revenue streams, net income, assets and liabilities should be listed.’
  ‘Such warnings are common in start-up companies where liabilities exceed assets.’
  ‘Above all, reduce the unfunded potential future liabilities (they are not legal obligations like Treasury bonds) first.’
  ‘All of that is trivial, compared to the yawning black hole of unfunded pension liabilities.’
  ‘The civil service pension liabilities have a severe impact on fiscal consolidation and fiscal flexibility.’
  financial obligation, debt, indebtedness, debit
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2usually in singular A person or thing whose presence or behaviour is likely to put one at a disadvantage.
‘she said the party had become a liability to green politics’
- ‘One could expect that Junior's presence will become a liability once he spells out his plan.’
- ‘When wildlife is perceived to be a danger and a liability, it compromises the very basis of conservation.’
- ‘Girls would not be seen as a burden or a liability if they were guaranteed an equal right to inheritance and property.’
- ‘He has been nothing but trouble since he moved in there in March, and is a dangerous liability.’
- ‘Ask any historian: what is it about political consorts that makes them such a liability?’
- ‘It must be even lonelier when you realise you've been left off a dive list because people see you as a nuisance or a liability.’
- ‘They've got deadlines to meet and if I'm a weak link, I could be a liability.’
- ‘In a world where everything has to be purchased, too many children can be a liability and they are less likely to provide security.’
- ‘This is not a political liability - it is potentially a powerful political asset.’
- ‘As he gradually becomes a greater liability, even the most supine members of the parliamentary party will put pressure on him to go.’
- ‘Only now do they appear to acknowledge that he is a liability.’
- ‘Perhaps it was this fact that made her determined to please her father and not to be considered a liability to the family.’
- ‘Now that we have seen his response to the revelations, it is surely beyond dispute that he is a liability who must be removed forthwith.’
- ‘Is the leader becoming a liability, or can he convince his critics he's not a racist?’
- ‘Such a civil servant is a liability who should be ejected from the system.’
- ‘I don't wish to blame my children for everything, but they are a major liability when you're prone to blushing.’
- ‘Fellow drivers kicked up a fuss, claiming that he was too inexperienced, and that he was a potential liability.’
hindrance, encumbrance, burden, handicap, nuisance, inconvenience
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