Meaning & use
liquidate property
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Meanings
phrasetransitiveformalbusinessfinance
To sell property or assets in order to get cash, often to pay debts or close a business.
Grammar: Takes an object: liquidate property, liquidate assets. The object can also be a business: liquidate a company.
Patterns
- liquidate property
- liquidate assets
- liquidate a company
The bankrupt firm had to liquidate property to pay its creditors.
They decided to liquidate some property to fund the new venture.
He liquidated his property holdings before moving abroad.
phrasetransitiveformalfinance
To convert assets into cash, especially in a hurry or under financial pressure.
Grammar: Often used in passive: the property was liquidated.
Patterns
- liquidate something into cash
- be liquidated
The estate was liquidated to settle the outstanding taxes.
Investors liquidated their property to avoid further losses.
Common combinations
- liquidate assets
- The company liquidated assets to cover its debts.
- liquidate a business
- The owners decided to liquidate the business after years of losses.
- liquidate holdings
- She liquidated her holdings in the stock market.
- forced to liquidate
- The bank was forced to liquidate its property portfolio.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sell off
- More informal and often implies selling quickly or cheaply; 'liquidate' is formal and often used in legal or financial contexts.
- convert to cash
- Focuses on the result of getting cash; 'liquidate' emphasizes the process of selling assets.
- wind up
- Used for closing a company and selling its assets; 'liquidate' can also refer to selling just some property.
Opposites
Word family
- liquidation noun
- The process of closing a business and selling its assets to pay debts.
- liquidator noun
- A person or official who manages the liquidation of a company.
- liquid adjective
- In finance, describes assets that can be easily converted into cash.
Commonly confused: liquidate property or liquid?
liquidate property vs liquid
As a noun, 'liquid' is a substance that flows; as an adjective in finance, it means easily changed into cash. 'Liquidate' is the verb meaning to sell assets for cash.
Practice
The struggling company was forced to ______ its property to pay off its debts.
Choose one answer.
'Liquidate' is the verb meaning to sell property to get cash. 'Liquefy' means to become liquid (like melting), 'liquid' is a noun or adjective, and 'liquidation' is a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “liquidate property”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.