Meaning & use
net
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounbusinessfinance
Remaining after costs, taxes or other deductions have been taken away.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: net income, net weight. It is not used after a verb.
Patterns
- net of something
Her net salary is lower than the figure in the job advert because of tax.
The company reported a net profit of two million dollars.
The net weight of the cereal is 500 grams, not counting the box.
nouncountable
Open material made of knotted or woven cord, wire or thread, used to catch, hold or protect something.
Grammar: Countable for the object: a fishing net, two nets; a sports goal also has a net.
Patterns
- cast a net
- a net of something
The fishermen pulled a heavy net full of mackerel onto the deck.
The ball hit the back of the net for the winning goal.
A mosquito net hung over the bed.
verbtransitive
To catch something in a net, or to earn or gain an amount as clear profit.
Grammar: Takes an object: net a fish, net a profit.
Patterns
- net something
- net someone something
The sale netted the charity nearly ten thousand dollars.
She netted a rare butterfly in the meadow.
He netted a hat-trick in the second half.
Word forms
| third person singular | nets |
|---|---|
| past tense | netted |
| past participle | netted |
| -ing form | netting |
Common combinations
- net income
- Our net income rose slightly this year.
- net profit
- The shop made a net profit of three thousand dollars last month.
- fishing net
- A fishing net lay tangled on the pier.
- net gain
- The change resulted in a net gain of twelve jobs.
- cast a net
- They cast a wide net to find qualified applicants.
- back of the net
- He smashed the ball into the back of the net.
Synonyms and how they differ
- take-home
- Take-home refers to the pay an employee actually receives after deductions, while net is the general accounting term used for any amount.
- after-tax
- After-tax names exactly which deduction was made, while net can include other costs as well.
- mesh
- Mesh describes the open material itself, whereas net also names the finished object such as a fishing net.
- earn
- Earn is the general verb for receiving money, while net stresses the amount left over after costs.
Opposites
Word family
- netting noun
- material made of net, or the activity of catching with nets
- netted adjective
- made like or covered with a net
- network noun
- a connected system of lines, people or computers
- netball noun
- a team ball game played by throwing a ball through a high net ring
Commonly confused: net or gross?
net vs gross
Gross is the total before deductions, while net is what remains afterward; mixing them up changes a number a lot.
Practice
A company earns 100,000 dollars in sales and pays 70,000 dollars in costs. What is its net profit?
Choose one answer.
Net means what is left after deductions, so 100,000 minus 70,000 is 30,000 dollars. The 100,000 figure would be gross.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “net”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.