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adjective
1.
legally responsible: You are liable for the damage caused by your action.
2.
subject or susceptible: to be liable to heart disease.
3.
likely or apt: He's liable to get angry.
Related forms
non·li·a·ble, adjective
pre·li·a·ble, adjective
un·li·a·ble, adjective
Can be confused: 1. defamation, liable, libel, slander (see usage note at the current entry); 2. liable, libel.
Synonyms
1. obliged, accountable.
1. obliged, accountable.
Usage note
Liable is often interchangeable with likely in constructions with a following infinitive where the sense is that of probability: The Sox are liable (or likely) to sweep the Series. Some usage guides, however, say that liable can be used only in contexts in which the outcome is undesirable: The picnic is liable to be spoiled by rain. This use occurs often in formal writing but not to the exclusion of use in contexts in which the outcome is desirable: The drop in unemployment is liable to stimulate the economy. EXPANDApt may also be used in place of liable or likely in all the foregoing examples. See also apt, likely.
COLLAPSE
Liable is often interchangeable with likely in constructions with a following infinitive where the sense is that of probability: The Sox are liable (or likely) to sweep the Series. Some usage guides, however, say that liable can be used only in contexts in which the outcome is undesirable: The picnic is liable to be spoiled by rain. This use occurs often in formal writing but not to the exclusion of use in contexts in which the outcome is desirable: The drop in unemployment is liable to stimulate the economy. EXPANDApt may also be used in place of liable or likely in all the foregoing examples. See also apt, likely.
COLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Liable
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
liable
1540s, "bound or obliged by law," from Anglo-Fr. *liable, from O.Fr. lier "to bind," from L. ligare "to bind, to tie" (see ligament). General sense of "exposed to" (something undesirable) is from 1590s. Incorrect use for "likely" is attested from 1886.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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