Meaning & use
tangibles
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“tangibles” is a form of “tangible”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounpluralbusinessfinance
Things with a physical form that can be touched and counted, especially assets a business owns such as buildings and equipment.
Grammar: Plural form: tangibles are listed separately from intangibles.
Patterns
- tangibles such as something
- tangibles and intangibles
The accountant listed the factory and trucks under tangibles.
Investors value tangibles because they can be sold if the company fails.
Tangibles such as land and machinery lose value over time.
nounplural
Concrete, real things that can be measured or observed, as opposed to ideas, feelings or promises.
Grammar: Used in general discussion about practical results.
Patterns
- deal in tangibles
- focus on tangibles
The team wants tangibles, not vague promises.
In a negotiation, offer tangibles like dates and prices.
She focuses on tangibles instead of hopeful guesses.
Common combinations
- tangibles and intangibles
- The firm's value includes both tangibles and intangibles.
- tangibles such as
- Tangibles such as vehicles are listed on the balance sheet.
- deal in tangibles
- Many auditors prefer to deal in tangibles.
- value of tangibles
- The value of tangibles dropped after the fire.
- physical tangibles
- The report counts physical tangibles in every branch.
Synonyms and how they differ
- assets
- Assets are anything of value that a firm owns, including intangible ones, so it is a wider term than tangibles.
- physical goods
- Physical goods stresses products for sale, while tangibles can include buildings and equipment.
- hard assets
- Hard assets is a finance phrase for physical wealth like property or metals, and is narrower than tangibles.
- concrete things
- Concrete things is plain speech that lacks the accounting tone of tangibles.
Opposites
Word family
- tangible adjective
- able to be touched or clearly real
- tangibly adverb
- in a clear and real way
- tangibility noun
- the quality of being touchable or real
- intangible adjective
- not able to be touched
Commonly confused: tangibles or tangents?
tangibles vs tangents
Tangents are lines or side topics that touch a subject lightly, not physical assets.
Practice
The company's balance sheet shows tangibles such as ______.
Choose one answer.
Tangibles are physical assets like machinery and buildings. Reputation, morale and loyalty are intangibles that cannot be touched.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tangibles”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.