Meaning & use
self-liquidating
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounfinance
Of a loan or investment: producing enough income to pay itself back without extra funds.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a self-liquidating loan. It is not used after 'be' in everyday speech.
Patterns
- a self-liquidating loan
- a self-liquidating investment
- a self-liquidating project
The bank offered a self-liquidating loan that would be repaid from the project's own earnings.
A self-liquidating investment pays for itself over time, so the company needs no new capital.
The city used a self-liquidating bond to build the parking garage, paid for by parking fees.
adjectivebefore a nounbusiness
Of a business activity or asset: naturally coming to an end by turning into cash or paying off its own costs.
Grammar: Used mainly in business writing before a noun: a self-liquidating asset.
Patterns
- a self-liquidating asset
- a self-liquidating venture
The venture was self-liquidating: after two years, the equipment was sold and the accounts closed.
They preferred self-liquidating assets that could be turned into cash quickly.
Common combinations
- self-liquidating loan
- The farmer took out a self-liquidating loan to buy seeds, repaid after harvest.
- self-liquidating project
- The bridge was a self-liquidating project funded by tolls.
- self-liquidating bond
- The city issued a self-liquidating bond for the new water system.
- self-liquidating investment
- A self-liquidating investment returns its cost through the income it generates.
Synonyms and how they differ
- self-financing
- Self-financing means paying for itself from its own income, but it does not always mean the original loan is fully repaid.
- self-sustaining
- Self-sustaining means able to continue without outside help; self-liquidating focuses on paying back a specific debt or cost.
Word family
- liquidate verb
- To close a business or turn assets into cash.
- liquidation noun
- The process of closing a business and selling its assets.
Commonly confused: self-liquidating or self-liquidating?
self-liquidating vs self-liquidating
Not to be confused with 'liquidating' alone, which means closing a business. The 'self-' part means the thing pays for itself.
Practice
A ______ loan is one that is repaid from the profits of the project it finances.
Choose one answer.
'Self-liquidating' means the loan pays itself back through the project's income. 'Liquidating' alone means closing a business, which does not fit the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “self-liquidating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.