collateral

«collateral» in Mova's school dictionary: something valuable, like a house, that you promise to… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (collateral — uncountable); adjective (collateral)

meaning for a pupil

1) (formal) Collateral is something valuable, like a house, that you promise to give to a bank if you cannot pay back a loan. tree →

2) Collateral damage means harm done by accident to people or things that were not the target, especially in war; also used for side harm in everyday talk. tree →

sense in the lessons

It appears in money and news texts, and in the stiff formal voice. In everyday talk «collateral damage» is used half-jokingly for something hurt by accident. Phrases: «put up as collateral», «collateral damage».

examples

• The farmer used his land as collateral for the loan. tree →
• Without collateral, the bank would not lend him money. tree →
• The bomb caused collateral damage to nearby houses. tree →
• The vase was collateral damage when the ball hit the shelf. tree →
• A bank may keep the collateral if the loan is not paid. tree →
• The bike was offered as collateral for the money. tree →

note

Formal; uncountable. «Collateral damage» is a euphemism that can hide real harm to people. Not related to «collect».

In the corpora

• "Collateral damage" is official military language for ordinary people killed or property destroyed by accident in an attack.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «collateral» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.