| 释义 |
liability|laɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ|
[f. liable + -ity.]
1. Law. The condition of being liable or answerable by law or equity.
1794–1809E. Christian Note in Blackstone's Comm. III. 165 It exempts them from all liability to answer for a loss occasioned by fire. 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1031 Of the Liability of the Master in respect of a tortious Act done by the Servant. 1875Maine Hist. Inst. ix. 259 The Pignoris Capio could be generally resorted to in the absence of the person under liability.
b. Comm. limited liability: the position or state of being legally responsible only to a limited extent (usually the amount of one's stock or shares) for the debts of a trading company of which one is a member. Also attrib. in limited liability company. (For the shortened form limited company, see limited.) Also transf.
1855in Hansard's Parl. Deb. Ser. iii. CXXXIX. 358 Bill read 2°, as was also the Limited Liabilities Bill. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law xxi. 162 A private company..has been formed for the purpose of executing trusts and executorships, but limited. Such associations are not only open to all the objections which I have pointed out, but their limited liability would deter a prudent man from intrusting them with his fortune. 1890Review of Rev. II. 541/1 Barings were as good as the Bank once. Now they are only a limited liability firm. 1894Sala Lond. up to Date 147 Those were the days of Joint Stock Companies, and the Act authorizing the formation of companies with Limited Liability had not yet been passed. 1897Times 15 Feb. 9/3 This does not give her [Greece] a right to assume that she can make war with limited liability.
2. The condition of being liable or subject to something, apt or likely to do something.
1809A. Henry Trav. 118 Their mode of life..accounts for their liability to these diseases. 1815L. Hunt Feast of Poets &c. Notes 120 A genius for poetry is nothing but a finer liability to impressions. 1874Green Short Hist. ix. §i. 596 His [Bacon's] noble confession of the liability of every inquirer to error. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. iii. 294 Liability to military service is a universal condition of citizenship.
3. That for which one is liable; esp. pl. the debts or pecuniary obligations of a person or company.
1842Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. ix. 169 At the suggestion of friends a subscription was raised to meet these liabilities. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 561 Although it was relieved of a part of its liabilities, it was burthened with a heavy annual payment. 1861Goschen For. Exch. 18 The effect of profits and commissions on the mutual liabilities of nations.
Add:[3.] b. fig. An attribute or trait which sets one at a disadvantage; hence, a burdensome or disadvantageous person or thing, a handicap. Freq. opp. assets n. pl. 4.
1938C. Connolly Enemies of Promise vi. 55 Cleverness seemed a liability rather than an asset. 1949Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIII. 903/1 Large grass areas on runwayed aerodromes are a liability in upkeep, except insofar as grass drying is a revenue-earning aspect. 1964E. Huxley Back Street New Worlds x. 101 Since Muslim customs rigidly preclude his wife's going out to work, she's bound to be an economic liability, not an asset as Jamaican wives are. 1977Time 19 Sept. 25/1 The financial razzle-dazzle that later was to become such a liability. 1985‘J. Higgins’ Confessional (1986) ix. 147 To his masters he was not only expendable. He was now a liability. |