Li`a*bil"i*ty (l`*bl"*t), n.; pl. Liabilities (- tz).
1. The state of being liable; as, the liability of an insurer;
liability to accidents; liability to the law.
2. That which one is under obligation to pay, or for which one is
liable. Specifically, in the pl., the sum of one's pecuniary
obligations; -- opposed to assets.
Limited liability. See Limited company, under Limited.
Li"a*ble (l"*b'l), a. [From F. lier to bind, L. ligare. Cf. Ally, v.
t., Ligature.] 1. Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible;
answerable; as, the surety is liable for the debt of his principal.
2. Exposed to a certain contingency or casualty, more or less probable;
-- with to and an infinitive or noun; as, liable to slip; liable to
accident.
Syn. -- Accountable; responsible; answerable; bound; subject;
obnoxious; exposed. -- Liable, Subject. Liable refers to a future
possible or probable happening which may not actually occur; as, horses
are liable to slip; even the sagacious are liable to make mistakes.
Subject refers to any actual state or condition belonging to the nature
or circumstances of the person or thing spoken of, or to that which
often befalls one. One whose father was subject to attacks of the gout
is himself liable to have that disease. Men are constantly subject to
the law, but liable to suffer by its infraction.
Proudly secure, yet liable to fall.
Milton.
All human things are subject to decay.
Dryden.
Li"a*ble*ness, n. Quality of being liable; liability.
Li"age (l"j), n. [Cf. OF. liage a bond. See Liable.] Union by league;
alliance. [Obs.]
||Li`ai`son" (l``zôN"), n. [F., fr. L. ligatio, fr. ligare to bind. See
||Ligature, and cf. Ligation.] A union, or bond of union; an intimacy;
||especially, an illicit intimacy between a man and a woman.
||
{ Li*ane" (l*n"), Li*a"na (l*"n), } n. [F. liane; prob. akin to lien a
band, fr. L. ligamen, fr. ligare to bind. Cf. Lien, n. ] (Bot.) A
luxuriant woody plant, climbing high trees and having ropelike stems.
The grapevine often has the habit of a liane. Lianes are abundant in
the forests of the Amazon region.
Li"ar (l"r), n. [OE. liere. See Lie to falsify.] A person who knowingly
utters falsehood; one who lies.
Li"ard (l"rd), a. [OF. liart, LL. liardus gray, dapple.] Gray. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Used by Chaucer as an epithet of a gray or dapple gray horse. Also used
as a name for such a horse.
||Liard (lyär), n. [F.] A French copper coin of one fourth the value of
||a sou.
||
Li"as (l"as), n. [Cf. F. lias, fr. liais sort of limestone, OF. also
liois; perh. of Celtic origin, cf. Armor. liach, leach, a stone, Gael.
leac, W. llech. Cf. Cromlech.] (Geol.) The lowest of the three
divisions of the Jurassic period; a name given in England and Europe to
a series of marine limestones underlying the Oölite. See the Chart of
Geology.
Li*as"sic (l*s"sk), a. (Geol.) Of the age of the Lias; pertaining to
the Lias formation. -- n. Same as Lias.