# liability

Pronunciation: say "ly-uh-BIL-i-tee" /laɪəˈbɪlɪti/

## Noun

1. A debt, obligation, or responsibility owed to another person or party.
   - Simple: Something you owe to someone, like money or a duty.
   - _The airline denied any liability for the passengers' lost luggage._
   - _The pension fund's liabilities to its retirees grow larger every year._
2. A drawback or handicap that holds something back, a burden on whoever must care for it, or a person or action that exposes others to greater risk.
   - Simple: Someone or something that causes problems, holds others back, or puts them in danger.
   - _As the scandal grew, the adviser became a political liability to the senator._
   - _Her old car had become a liability, breaking down every time she drove it far from home._
3. In accounting, any item recorded on the right-hand side of a balance sheet.
   - Simple: In accounting, any item on the right side of a balance sheet.
   - _Unpaid supplier invoices are recorded as a current liability until they are settled._
   - _On the latest balance sheet, the firm's liabilities exceed its assets by a wide margin._
4. A member of a team who is more of a hindrance than a help. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person on a team who causes more trouble than help.
   - _Without his glasses, our shortstop is a liability in the field._
   - _The coach benched two players who had become liabilities on defense._
5. The state of being prone or open to something, such as corrosion or infection.
   - Simple: The fact of being easily affected by something.
   - _The new alloy has a much lower liability to corrosion than ordinary steel._
   - _Young children's liability to infection makes clean water especially important._

## Origin

Formed from liable + -ity.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/liability (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).