collateral
noun
col·lat·er·al
| \ kə-ˈla-t(ə-)rəl
\
\
plural collaterals
Definition of collateral
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: property (such as securities) pledged by a borrower to protect the interests of the lender
2
: a collateral relative
A collateral inherited the estate.
3
: a branch of a bodily part (such as a vein)
4
: informational materials (such as brochures and fact sheets) used in selling a product or service to a prospective customer or buyer
Attendees can expect to make approximately 50 new business contacts and should … have an ample supply of business cards, marketing collateral and anything else to help potential leads remember them.— Nancy Hollingshead and Laurie Winslow
collateral
adjectiveDefinition of collateral (Entry 2 of 2)
1a
: accompanying as secondary or subordinate : concomitant
digress into collateral matters
b
: indirect
no direct objection, but a few collateral ones
c
: serving to support or reinforce : ancillary
collateral evidence was presented at the trial
2
: belonging to the same ancestral stock but not in a direct line of descent — compare lineal sense 3a
Brothers, cousins, uncles, and nephews are collateral kinsmen.
3
: parallel, coordinate, or corresponding in position, order, time, or significance
collateral states like Athens and Sparta
4a
: of, relating to, or being collateral used as security (as for payment of a debt or performance of a contract)
b
: secured by collateral
a collateral loan secured by stocks and bonds deposited with the lender
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Other Words from collateral
Adjective
collaterality
\ kə-ˌla-tə-ˈra-lə-tē
\
noun
\
noun
collaterally
\ kə-ˈla-t(ə-)rə-lē
\
adverb
\
adverb
Examples of collateral in a Sentence
Adjective
the collateral effects of the government's policiesRecent Examples on the Web: Noun
Giving poor people small loans without collateral, albeit at higher interest rates than on conventional loans, was meant to spur entrepreneurship and allow people to bootstrap their way out of poverty. — The Economist, "Microfinance is driving many Sri Lankan borrowers to despair," 17 Aug. 2019 Finally, most banks require that loan seekers must mortgage their house as collateral, which often proves counter-productive as interested customers view this as a disproportionate demand. — Tirthankar Mandal, Quartz India, "Cheaper loans could take solar power to more rooftops in India," 21 July 2019 The respective owners of the Valley Title and Bo Town properties, groups led, in both cases, by Dillabough, obtained loans that used the two sites as collateral, documents on file with county officials show. — George Avalos, The Mercury News, "WeWork deepens downtown San Jose ties to Gary Dillabough ventures," 12 July 2019 When his pregnant wife is kidnapped and held as collateral, ER nurse Paul (Anthony Mackie) teams up with Abe (Frank Grillo), the badly injured career criminal and murder suspect in his charge. — Mark Dawidziak, cleveland.com, "Third season of FX’s ‘Snowfall’ among top viewing choices," 6 July 2019 The vote set the general terms by which tax anticipation warrants will be sold — using the police headquarters as collateral, of sorts, to come up with the cash. — Gregory Tejeda, Post-Tribune, "Gary plans to use the Public Safety building as collateral to pay bills," 7 June 2019 Jakelin’s grandfather told the Associated Press that the family had to take out a loan, using their farmland as collateral, just to afford to send Jakelin and her father to the US. — Dara Lind, Vox, "The death of 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin in Border Patrol custody isn’t an isolated outrage," 18 Dec. 2018 In 2009, Detroit pledged its casino tax revenue as collateral on the swaps, jeopardizing the city's most dependable source of cash. — Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, "Kwame Kilpatrick: Detroit bankruptcy wasn't my fault," 15 June 2018 That would let People’s take steps to protect its collateral on WMG’s multimillion-dollar debt, in the form of machinery, equipment and inventory at the company’s Suffield headquarters, along with business records and accounts receivable. — Jon Lender, courant.com, "Jon Lender: State-subsidized firm bounces 97 checks — as it’s supposed to be recovering from bankruptcy," 27 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
The novel is also shot through with the unexpected collateral effects of that game-changing technology, the telegraph. — Belinda Luscombe, Time, "'I Put 1,400 Pages in the Trash.' The Tiger's Wife Author Téa Obreht on Killing Two Books to Create Her New Novel," 13 Aug. 2019 Now, as a response to white supremacist violence, what might be sold as simple fixes to Section 230 will likely have similarly immense collateral consequences. — Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic, "No Law Can Ban White Supremacy From the Internet," 9 Aug. 2019 Of those arrested, 18 were members of families and 17 were collateral apprehensions of people in the country illegally encountered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. — Fortune, "Immigration Operation Touted by Trump Nets 35 Arrests," 23 July 2019 In return, a portion of her DoorDash shares become collateral with the third party custodian. — Lucinda Shen, Fortune, "Wealth Advisory Platform SecFi Closes $6 Million Funding Round," 19 July 2019 The win-at-all costs, collateral-damage-be-damned mentality of Selina this year was both delicious and disturbing to watch. — Dan Snierson, EW.com, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus calls Emmy nods for final Veep season ‘supremely satisfying’," 16 July 2019 Immigration activists decry such collateral arrests, which were sharply curtailed during President Barack Obama’s second term. — Washington Post, "Making an immigration arrest requires hours of surveillance," 15 July 2019 Such collateral arrests have sparked concern from immigration advocates who argue that the government shouldn’t be expending limited resources arresting people whose only offense is being in the U.S. without permission. — Alex Leary, WSJ, "U.S. Cities Prepare for Federal Immigration Raids," 22 June 2019 The collateral funds were meant to ensure that the former UConn campus, which is contaminated with toxic PCBs, receives proper remediation. — Emily Brindley, courant.com, "Work to restart next month at Ideanomics on former UConn campus in West Hartford," 28 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'collateral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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