legally responsible: You are liable for the damage caused by your action.
subject or susceptible: to be liable to heart disease.
likely or apt: He's liable to get angry.
Origin of liable
First recorded in 1535–45; from Anglo-French “to bind,” from Latin ligāre ) + -able
SYNONYMS FOR liable
1 obliged, answerable, accountable.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR liable ON THESAURUS.COM
usage note for liable
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. See also apt, likely.
It meant that a parent corporation like McDonald’s, one of the companies embroiled in litigation over the rule, could be held liable for a franchise owner’s wrongdoing, such as retaliating against workers for trying to unionize.
“Cover Up”: House Democrats Subpoena Documents That NLRB Refused to Share in Ethics Investigation|by Ian MacDougall|September 15, 2020|ProPublica
If the employee did so, the agency would have terminated a full-time contract with the employee and worked on a contract basis instead leaving the employee liable for paying for their own healthcare and other benefits can .
‘Necessary to attract talent’: How agencies are managing employees’ requests to move to different states|Kristina Monllos|August 26, 2020|Digiday
Yesterday a California appeals court ruled Amazon is liable for products sold by third parties on its site.
Amazon’s days of dodging liability for its marketplace could be numbered|Marc Bain|August 14, 2020|Quartz
Clients who are wary of online transactions are liable to see escorts with print ads as less likely to cheat or scam them.
The Importance of Adult Classifieds|Hazlitt|September 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And while eBay makes a direct profit from sales, it is generally not liable unless it had knowledge of a suspicious seller.
Why eBay Is an Art Forger’s Paradise|Lizzie Crocker|August 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When he says that,” Lefty Wilson, the trainer, said, “he's liable to get three goals.
Gordie Howe Hockey’s Greatest War Horse|W.C. Heinz|May 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Protracted handcuffing is liable to damage nerves that affect the functioning of the hands,” says the report.
Palestinian Factions Made Peace in Israel’s Jails|Ben Hattem|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The harder Benton hits Bevin, the more that coalition is liable to turn on Paul.
Can ‘the Traitor’ Jesse Benton Unite the GOP?|Sam Youngman|March 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We are all of us liable to be carried away, and there is much excuse for you in this.
The Rome Express|Arthur Griffiths
It is also certain that many hundreds of all ages who were liable to service escaped conscription, especially in north Alabama.
Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama|Walter L. Fleming
Is not the human machine, which is represented as a master-piece of the Creator's skill, liable to derangement in a thousand ways?
Good Sense|Paul Henri Thiry, Baron D'Holbach
It is liable to degenerate; and, though sometimes classed as a Winter Endive, is less hardy than many other sorts.
The Field and Garden Vegetables of America|Fearing Burr
You become a sort of acting aide-de-camp to the parson, liable to be called out on duty at a moment's notice.
A Cotswold Village|J. Arthur Gibbs
British Dictionary definitions for liable
liable
/ (ˈlaɪəbəl) /
adjective(postpositive)
legally obliged or responsible; answerable
susceptible or exposed; subject
probable, likely, or capableit's liable to happen soon
Derived forms of liable
liableness, noun
Word Origin for liable
C15: perhaps via Anglo-French, from Old French lier to bind, from Latin ligāre
usage for liable
The use of liable to to mean likely to was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable