LIABLE Definition & Meaning

View synonyms for

liable

[ lahy-uh-buhl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

legally responsible:
You are liable for the damage caused by your action.
Synonyms: ,
subject or susceptible:
to be liable to heart disease.
likely or apt:
He's liable to get angry.

liable

/ ˈ��ɪə��ə�� /

adjective

legally obliged or responsible; answerable
susceptible or exposed; subject
probable, likely, or capable
it's liable to happen soon

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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. Apt may also be used in place of liable or likely in all the foregoing examples. apt, likely.

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Usage

The use of liable to to mean likely to was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable

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Derived Forms

ˈ��Ա��, noun

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Other �y��vlog Forms

�Դǲ�·��a·�� adjective
��·��a·�� adjective
�ܲ�·��a·�� adjective

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of liable¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Anglo-French “to bind,” from Latin �� ) + -able

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of liable¹

C15: perhaps via Anglo-French, from Old French lier to bind, from Latin ��

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

It’s the very opposite of elite and all in all presents a more complete picture of the nation than you are liable to find elsewhere.

From

But lawyers acting for the former players argued that the boys club and Celtic were "intimately connected" and the senior club was "vicariously liable" for assaults carried out.

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Politically, it will leave the government liable to claims it has allowed "two-tier" justice to take effect on its watch.

From

It got to the point a few years ago, he said, where he insisted no female assistants should come near him in his dressing-room, because they were too liable to be shocked.

From

She also received her local government's acknowledgment that it was liable for "failing to supervise" her adoptive home.

From

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