26984 words

margin

15 definitions • 25 examples
1
the amount by which one thing is different from another:

Examples:

The Senate approved the use of military force by a margin of 52 votes to 47.
The poll shows that the government is leading by the narrowest of margins.
2
3
the empty space to the side of the text on a page, sometimes separated from the rest of the page by a vertical line:

Examples:

If I have any comments to make, I'll write them in the margin.
4
the outer edge of an area:

Examples:

5
If someone is on the margins of a group of people, they are part of that group, but different in important ways, and if someone is on the margins of an activity, they are only slightly involved:

Examples:

He spent the 1980s on the margins of British politics.
We need to reach out to those on the margins of society.
6
something that makes a particular thing possible, such as an extra amount of money, time, etc. allowed that makes it possible to deal with an emergency:

Examples:

There is not much margin for creativity in a job like this.
They allow an additional safety margin of five minutes between planes taking off.
7
the border of empty space around the written or printed text on a page:

Examples:

She was in the habit of making notes in the margins of her textbooks.
8

Examples:

He was reelected by a wide margin.
9
A margin for error is the amount by which you can make a mistake without risking complete failure:

Examples:

There is no margin for error – it’s got to work the first time.
10
A margin of error is the degree to which a calculation can be wrong without changing how accurate the final result is:

Examples:

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.
11
the amount by which one thing is more or less than another:

Examples:

by a margin of sth The president won the election by a tiny margin.
a wide/large/comfortable margin They are the largest building society by a comfortable margin.
a narrow/small/slim margin
a 40-vote/5-point/2-to-1, etc. margin On the New York Stock Exchange, declines outpaced gainers by a 4-3 margin.
Kennedy's margin of victory was only 719,000.
12
the difference between the total cost of making and selling something and the price it is sold for:

Examples:

a high/good margin They wanted to produce higher margin products.
a margin on sth The company will make a whopping 80% margin on this sale.
13
the difference between the amount of a loan and the value of the collateral (= property to be given to the lender if the money is not paid back):

Examples:

The risk of default needs to be correctly priced in the bank's loan margins.
14
money, shares, etc. that a client gives to a broker to hold, that protect the broker from loss on a contract
15
If you buy shares on margin, you borrow money in order to do this:

Examples:

Executives bought stocks on margin, putting up cash for only 10 per cent of the purchase price.

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