DICTIONARY OFBUSINESS

FOURTH EDITION

Specialist dictionaries:Dictionary of Accounting 0 7475 6991 6Dictionary of Banking and Finance 0 7136 7739 2Dictionary of Computing 0 7475 6622 4Dictionary of Economics 0 7475 6632 1Dictionary of Environment and Ecology 0 7475 7201 1Dictionary of Human Resources and Personnel Management 0 7475 6623 2Dictionary of ICT 0 7475 6990 8Dictionary of Law 0 7475 6636 4Dictionary of Leisure, Travel and Tourism 0 7475 7222 4Dictionary of Marketing 0 7475 6621 6Dictionary of Medical Terms 0 7136 7603 5Dictionary of Nursing 0 7475 6634 8Dictionary of Science and Technology 0 7475 6620 8

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Check Your English Vocabulary workbooks:Banking and Finance 0 9485 4996 3Business 0 7475 6626 7Computing 1 9016 5928 3Law 0 7136 7592 6Marketing 0 9016 5948 8IELTS 0 7475 5982 7FCE + 0 7475 6981 9TOEFL 0 7475 6984 3

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DICTIONARY OFBUSINESS

FOURTH EDITION

P.H. Collin

A & C Black London

www.acblack.com

Originally published by Peter Collin Publishing

First published 1985as English Business DictionarySecond edition published 1994

reprinted 1995, 1997, 1999Third edition published 2001

reprinted twice 2001Fourth edition published 2004

reprinted 2006

A & C Black Publishers Ltd38 Soho Square, London W1D 3HB

Copyright P.H. Collin, F. Collin & S.M.H. Collin 1985, 1994, 2001 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2004 A & C Black Publishers Ltd 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced in any form or by any means without the

prior written permission of the publishers.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

eISBN-13: 978-1-4081-0224-4

Text production and proofreadingKaty McAdam, Joel Adams, Sarah Lusznat, Emma Harris

A & C Black uses paper produced with elemental chlorine-free pulp,harvested from managed sustainable forests.

Text processing and computer typesetting by A & C BlackPrinted and bound in Italy by Legoprint

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Preface

This dictionary provides the user with the basic vocabulary used in businessin both British and American English. The dictionary contains words andphrases which cover all aspects of business life from the office to the StockExchange and international trade fairs.

It is designed for anyone who needs to check the meaning or pronunciation ofa business term, but especially for those for whom English is an additionallanguage. Each entry is explained in clear straightforward English andexamples are given to show how the words are used in normal contexts.Because English is a world language of business, short quotations areincluded from international newspapers.

Pronunciations, irregular plurals and verb forms, constructions used withparticular words, differences between American and British usage, and otheruseful points are included. At the back of the book, the user will findsupplements giving useful information about numbers (how to speak andwrite them), telephoning, and writing business letters, together with a list ofworld currencies, weights and measures, and local times around the world.

Thanks are due to Steven Gregory for his helpful comments and advice onthis fourth edition of the dictionary.

PronunciationThe following symbols have been used to show the pronunciation of the mainwords in the dictionary.

Stress is indicated by a main stress mark ( ) and a secondary stress mark ( ) .Note that these are only guides, as the stress of the word changes according to itsposition in the sentence.

Vowels Consonants

back b buck harm d dead stop othera type d jumpa how f farea hire golda hour h head course j yellow annoy k cabe head l leavee fair m mixe make n nile go sing word p printi keep r resti happy s save about shop fit t take near t changeu annual theftu pool v value book w work tour x loch' shut measure

z zone

AA

A /e/, AA, AAA noun letters that showhow reliable a particular share, bond orcompany is considered to be Thesebonds have a AAA rating.

the rating concern lowered its rating tosingle-A from double-A, and its seniordebt rating to triple-B from single-A[Wall Street Journal]COMMENT: The AAA rating is given byStandard & Poors or by Moodys, and in-dicates a very high level of reliability fora corporate or municipal bond in the US.

A1

A1 /e wn/ adjective 1. in very goodcondition We sell only goods in A1 con-dition. 2. ship which is A1 at Lloydsa ship which is in the best possible condi-tion according to Lloyds Registerabandon

abandon /|bndn/ verb 1. to give upor not continue doing something Weabandoned the idea of setting up a NewYork office. The development pro-gramme had to be abandoned when thecompany ran out of cash. to abandonan action to give up a court case 2. toleave something The crew abandonedthe sinking ship.abandonment

abandonment /|bndnmnt/ nounan act of giving up voluntarily somethingthat you own, such as an option or theright to a property abandonment of aship giving up a ship and cargo to the un-derwriters against payment for total lossabatement

abatement /|betmnt/ noun an actof reducingabbreviated accounts

abbreviated accounts / |brivietd |kants/ noun a shortened version of acompanys annual accounts that a smallor medium sized company can file withthe Registrar of Companies, instead of afull versionabove par

above par /|bv p/ adjective refer-ring to a share with a market price higherthan its par value

above the line

above the line /|bv lan/ adjec-tive, adverb 1. used to describe entries ina companys profit and loss accounts thatappear above the line separating entriesshowing the origin of the funds that havecontributed to the profit or loss from thosethat relate to its distribution. Exceptionaland extraordinary items appear above theline. Exceptional items are noted abovethe line in company accounts. belowthe line 2. relating to revenue items in agovernment budget 3. relating to advertis-ing for which payment is made (such asan ad in a magazine or a stand at a tradefair) and for which a commission is paidto an advertising agency. Compare belowthe lineabove-the-line advertising

above-the-line advertising /|bv lan dvtaz/ noun advertisingfor which a payment is made and forwhich a commission is paid to the adver-tising agency, e.g. an advertisement in amagazine or a stand at a trade fair. Com-pare below-the-line advertising (NOTE:as opposed to direct marketing)abroad

abroad /|brd/ adverb to or in anothercountry The consignment of cars wasshipped abroad last week. The chair-man is abroad on business. He workedabroad for ten years. Half of our profitcomes from sales abroad.absence

absence /bsns/ noun the fact of notbeing at work or at a meeting in the ab-sence of when someone is not there Inthe absence of the chairman, his deputytook the chair.absent

absent /bsnt/ adjective not at workor not at a meeting He was absent ow-ing to illness. Ten of the workers are ab-sent with flu. The chairman is absent inHolland on business.

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absentee 2absenteeabsentee /bsn|ti/ noun a personwho is absent or an employee who staysaway from work for no good reasonabsenteeismabsenteeism /bs()n |tiz()m/noun the practice of staying away fromwork for no good reason Low produc-tivity is largely due to the high level of ab-senteeism. Absenteeism is high in theweek before Christmas.

but the reforms still hadnt fundamen-tally changed conditions on the shop floor:absenteeism was as high as 20% on somedays [Business Week]

absenteeism rateabsenteeism rate /bsn|tiz()mret/ noun the percentage of the work-force which is away from work with nogood excuse The rate of absenteeism orthe absenteeism rate always increases infine weather.absoluteabsolute /bslut/ adjective com-plete or totalabsorbabsorb /b|zb/ verb to take in a smallitem so that it forms part of a larger one to absorb overheads to include a propor-tion of overhead costs into a productioncost (this is done at a certain rate, calledthe absorption rate) overheads haveabsorbed all our profits all our profitshave gone in paying overhead expenses to absorb a loss by a subsidiary to in-clude a subsidiary companys loss in thegroup accounts a business which hasbeen absorbed by a competitor a smallbusiness which has been made part of alarger oneabsorptionabsorption /b|zpn/ noun theprocess of making a smaller business partof a larger one, so that the smaller compa-ny in effect no longer existsabsorption costingabsorption costing /b|zpnkst/ noun a form of costing for aproduct that includes both the direct costsof production and the indirect overheadcosts as wellabsorption rateabsorption rate /b |zpn ret/noun a rate at which overhead costs areabsorbed into each unit of productionabstractabstract /bstrkt/ noun a short formof a report or document to make an ab-stract of the company accountsabstract of titleabstract of title /b|strkt vtat()l/ noun a summary of the detailsof the ownership of a property which hasnot been registereda/ca/c, acc abbr account

ACAS

ACAS /eks/ abbr Advisory, Concili-ation and Arbitration Serviceaccelerate

accelerate /k|selret/ verb to makesomething go fasteracceleration clause

acceleration clause /k|sel|renklz/ noun US a clause in a contractproviding for immediate payment of thetotal balance if there is a breach of con-tractaccept

accept /k|sept/ verb 1. to take some-thing which is being offered to acceptdelivery of a shipment to take goods intothe warehouse officially when they aredelivered 2. to say yes or to agree tosomething She accepted the offer of ajob in Australia. He accepted 2000 inlieu of notice.acceptable

acceptable /k |septb()l/ adjectiveeasily accepted Both parties found theoffer acceptable. The terms of the con-tract of employment are not acceptable tothe candidate.acceptance

acceptance /k|septns/ noun 1. theact of signing a bill of exchange to showthat you agree to pay it to present a billfor acceptance to present a bill for pay-ment by the person who has accepted it 2. acceptance of an offer the act of agree-ing to an offer to give an offer a condi-tional acceptance to accept an offer pro-vided that specific things happen or thatspecific terms apply we have their let-ter of acceptance we have received a let-ter from them accepting the offeracceptance against documents

acceptance against documents/k|septns !enst dkjmnts/ nouna transaction where the seller takes chargeof the shipping documents for a consign-ment of goods when a buyer accepts a billof exchange Acceptance against docu-ments protects the seller when sendinggoods which are not yet paid for.acceptance bank

acceptance bank /k|septns bk/noun US same as accepting houseacceptance house

acceptance house /k|septnshas/ noun same as accepting houseacceptance sampling

acceptance sampling /k|septnssmpl/ noun the process of testing asmall sample of a batch to see if the wholebatch is good enough to be acceptedaccepting house

accepting house /k|sept has/noun a firm, usually a merchant bank,which accepts bills of exchange at a dis-count, in return for immediate payment to

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3 accountthe issuer, in this case the Bank of Eng-landAccepting Houses CommitteeAccepting Houses Committee /k |sept hazz k|mti/ noun the mainLondon merchant banks, which organisethe lending of money with the Bank ofEngland. They receive slightly better dis-count rates from the Bank.accessaccess /kses/ noun to have accessto something to be able to obtain or reachsomething She has access to largeamounts of venture capital. verb to callup data which is stored in a computer She accessed the address file on the com-puter.accessionaccession /k|se()n/ noun the act ofjoining an organisationaccess timeaccess time /kses tam/ noun thetime taken by a computer to find datastored in itaccidentaccident /ksd()nt/ noun some-thing unpleasant which can be caused bycarelessness or which happens by chancesuch as a plane crashaccident insuranceaccident insurance /ksd()nt n |rns/ noun insurance which will paythe insured person when an accident takesplaceaccident policyaccident policy /ksd()nt plsi/noun an insurance contract which pro-vides a person with accident insuranceaccommodationaccommodation /|km|de()n/noun 1. money lent for a short time 2. to reach an accommodation with credi-tors to agree terms for settlement withcreditors 3. a place to stay temporarily orlive in Visitors have difficulty in findinghotel accommodation during the summer.

any non-resident private landlord canlet furnished or unfurnished accommoda-tion to a tenant [Times]the airline providing roomy accommo-dations at below-average fares [DunsBusiness Month]

accommodation addressaccommodation address /|km |de()n |dres/ noun an address usedfor receiving messages, but which is notthe real address of the companyaccommodation billaccommodation bill /|km |de()n bl/ noun a bill of exchangewhere the person signing (the drawee) ishelping another company (the drawer)to raise a loanaccompanyaccompany /|kmp()ni/ verb to gowith The chairman came to the meeting

accompanied by the finance director. They sent a formal letter of complaint, ac-companied by an invoice for damage.(NOTE: accompanied by something)accordance

accordance /|kd()ns/ noun inaccordance with in agreement or con-formity with, as a result of what someonehas said should be done In accordancewith your instructions we have depositedthe money in your current account. I amsubmitting the claim for damages in ac-cordance with the advice of our legal ad-visers.accordingly

accordingly /|kdli/ adverb inagreement with what has been decided We have received your letter and have al-tered the contract accordingly.according to

according to /|kd tu/ preposi-tion 1. in accordance with The compu-ter was installed according to the manu-facturers instructions. 2. as stated orshown by someone

the budget targets for employment andgrowth are within reach according to thelatest figures [Australian Financial Re-view]

account

account /|kant/ noun 1. a record offinancial transactions over a period oftime, such as money paid, received, bor-rowed or owed Please send me your ac-count or a detailed or an itemised ac-count. 2. (in a shop) an arrangementwhich a customer has to buy goods andpay for them at a later date, usually theend of the month to have an account ora charge account or a credit account withHarrods Put it on my account or chargeit to my account. They are one of ourlargest accounts. to open an account(of a customer) to ask a shop to supplygoods which you will pay for at a laterdate to open an account, to close anaccount (of a shop) to start or to stop sup-plying a customer on credit to settle anaccount to pay all the money owed on anaccount to stop an account to stop sup-plying a customer until payment has beenmade for goods supplied 3. on accountas part of a total bill to pay money onaccount to pay to settle part of a bill ad-vance on account money paid as a partpayment 4. a customer who does a largeamount of business with a firm and has anaccount with it Smith Brothers is one ofour largest accounts. Our sales peoplecall on their best accounts twice a month.

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accountability 45. to keep the accounts to write eachsum of money in the account book Thebookkeepers job is to enter all the moneyreceived in the accounts. profit andloss account (P&L account) statementof company expenditure and income overa period of time, almost always one calen-dar year, showing whether the companyhas made a profit or loss (the balancesheet shows the state of a companys fi-nances at a certain date; the profit and lossaccount shows the movements whichhave taken place since the last balancesheet) 6. overdrawn account an ac-count where you have taken out moremoney than you have put in, i.e. the bankis effectively lending you money toopen an account to start an account byputting money in She opened an ac-count with the Bradford & Bingley Build-ing Society. to close an account to takeall money out of a bank account and stopthe account We closed our account withLloyds. 7. a period during which sharesare traded for credit, and at the end ofwhich the shares bought must be paid for(NOTE: On the London Stock Exchange,there are twenty-four accounts duringthe year, each running usually for tenworking days.) 8. a notice to take ac-count of inflation, to take inflation intoaccount to assume that there will be aspecific percentage of inflation whenmaking calculations verb to accountfor to explain and record a money trans-action to account for a loss or a dis-crepancy The reps have to account forall their expenses to the sales manager.accountability

accountability /|kant|blti/ nounthe fact of being responsible to someonefor something, e.g. the accountability ofdirectors to the shareholdersaccountable

accountable /|kantb()l/ adjec-tive referring to a person who has to ex-plain what has taken place or who is re-sponsible for something (NOTE: You areaccountable to someone for some-thing.)accountancy

accountancy / |kantnsi/ noun thework of an accountant They are study-ing accountancy or They are accountancystudents. (NOTE: The US term is ac-counting in this meaning.)account book

account book /|kant bk/ noun abook with printed columns which is usedto record sales and purchases

account dayaccount day /|kant de/ noun a dayon which shares which have been boughtmust be paid for, usually a Monday tendays after the end of an account. Alsocalled settlement dayaccount endaccount end / |kant end/ noun theend of an accounting periodaccount executiveaccount executive / |kant !|zekjtv/ noun an employee who looksafter customers or who is the link betweencustomers and the companyaccounting

accounting /|kant/ noun 1. thework of recording money paid, received,borrowed or owed accounting methods accounting procedures an account-ing machine 2. accountancy, the work ofan accountant as a course of study

applicants will be professionally quali-fied and have a degree in Commerce orAccounting[Australian Financial Review]

accounting periodaccounting period /|kantprid/ noun a period of time at the endof which the firms accounts are made upaccountsaccounts /|kants/ noun detailedrecords of a companys financial affairsaccounts departmentaccounts department /|kants d|ptmnt/ noun a department in a com-pany which deals with money paid, re-ceived, borrowed or owedaccounts manager

accounts manager /|kantsmnd$/ noun the manager of an ac-counts departmentaccounts payableaccounts payable /|kantspeb()l/ noun money owed by a com-panyaccounts receivableaccounts receivable /|kants r|sivb()l/ noun money owed to a com-pany. Abbreviation ARaccounts staffaccounts staff /|kantz stf/ nounpeople who work in the accounts depart-mentaccreditation

accreditation /|kred|te()n/ nounthe process of certifying the competenceof a person in a certain areaaccredited

accredited /|kredtd/ adjective re-ferring to an agent who is appointed by acompany to act on its behalfaccrualaccrual /|krul/ noun 1. the act ofnoting financial transactions when theytake place, and not when payment is made2. a gradual increase by addition accru-al of interest the automatic addition of in-terest to capital

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5 acquisition rateaccrue

accrue /|kru/ verb 1. to record a fi-nancial transaction in accounts when ittakes place, and not when payment ismade or received 2. to increase and be duefor payment at a later date Interest ac-crues from the beginning of the month.accrued dividendaccrued dividend / |krud dv|dend/ noun a dividend earned since thelast dividend was paidaccrued interestaccrued interest /|krud ntrst/noun interest which has been earned byan interest-bearing investment Accruedinterest is added quarterly.accrued liabilities

accrued liabilities /|krud la |bltiz/ noun liabilities which are record-ed in an accounting period, although pay-ment has not yet been made. This refers toliabilities such as rent, electricity, etc.acct

acct abbr accountaccumulate

accumulate /|kjumjlet/ verb togrow in quantity by being added to, or toget more of something over a period oftime We allow dividends to accumulatein the fund.accumulated profit

accumulated profit / |kjumjletd prft/ noun a profitwhich is not paid as dividend but is takenover into the accounts of the followingyearaccumulated reserves

accumulated reserves / |kjumjletd r|z&vz/ plural noun re-serves which a company has put asideover a period of yearsaccumulation unitaccumulation unit /|kjumj |le()n junt/ noun a type of unit in aunit trust, which produces dividendswhich are used to form more units (as op-posed to an income unit, which producesdividends which the investor receives asincome)accurate

accurate /kjrt/ adjective correct The sales department made an accurateforecast of sales. The designers pro-duced an accurate copy of the plan.accuse

accuse /|kjuz/ verb to say that some-one has committed a crime She was ac-cused of stealing from the petty cash box. He was accused of industrial espio-nage. (NOTE: You accuse someone of acrime or of doing something.)achieve

achieve /|tiv/ verb to succeed in do-ing something, to do something success-fully He has achieved his long-termtraining objectives. The company has

achieved great success in the Far East. We achieved all our objectives in 2001.

the company expects to move to profitsof FFr 2m next year and achieve equallyrapid growth in following years[Financial Times]

achievementachievement /|tivmnt/ noun suc-cess or something that has been achievedachieverachiever /|tiv/ noun a person whois successful or who tends to achieve hisor her objectives It was her reputationas a high achiever that made us think ofheadhunting her. VALSacid test ratioacid test ratio /sd test re/noun same as liquidity ratioacknowledgeacknowledge /k|nld$/ verb to tell asender that a letter, package or shipmenthas arrived He has still not acknowl-edged my letter of the 24th. We ac-knowledge receipt of your letter of June14th.acknowledgementacknowledgement /k|nld$mnt/noun the act of acknowledging She sentan acknowledgement of receipt. Thecompany sent a letter of acknowledge-ment after I sent in my job application.acoustic hoodacoustic hood /|kustk hd/ nouna cover which is put over a printer to re-duce the noise levela/c payeea/c payee /e si pe|i/ words writtenbetween the two lines on a crossedcheque, to show that it can only be paidinto the account of the person whosename is written on the cheque (allcheques have this printed on them)acquireacquire /|kwa/ verb to buy to ac-quire a company We have acquired anew office building in the centre of town.acquireracquirer / |kwar/ noun a person orcompany which buys somethingacquisitionacquisition /kw|z()n/ noun 1.something bought The chocolate facto-ry is our latest acquisition. 2. the takeoverof a company. The results and cash flowsof the acquired company are brought intothe group accounts only from the date ofacquisition: the figures for the previousperiod for the reporting entity should notbe adjusted. The difference between thefair value of the net identifiable assets ac-quired and the fair value of the purchaseconsideration is goodwill. 3. the act ofgetting or buying somethingacquisition rateacquisition rate /kw|z()n ret/noun a figure that indicates how much

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acre 6new business is being won by a compa-nys marketing activitiesacreacre /ek/ noun a measure of the areaof land (= 0.45 hectares) (NOTE: The plu-ral is used with figures, except before anoun: he has bought a farm of 250acres, he has bought a 250 acre farm.)across-the-board

across-the-board /|krs bd/adjective applying to everything or every-one an across-the-board price increaseor wage increaseactact /kt/ noun a law passed by parlia-ment which must be obeyed by the people verb to do something The board willhave to act quickly if the companys lossesare going to be reduced. to act onsomething to do what you have beenasked to do by someone to act on a let-ter The lawyers are acting on our in-structions.ACT

ACT abbr Advance Corporation Taxactingacting /kt/ adjective working inplace of someone for a short time act-ing manager the Acting Chairmanaction

action /kn/ noun 1. a thing whichhas been done to take action to dosomething You must take action if youwant to stop people cheating you. Youmust take action if you want to improveproductivity. 2. to take industrial ac-tion to do something (usually to go onstrike) to show that you are not happywith conditions at work 3. a case in a lawcourt where a person or company sues an-other person or company to take legalaction to sue someone an action for li-bel or a libel action an action for dam-ages She brought an action for wrong-ful dismissal against her former employ-er.action-centred leadership

action-centred leadership /knsentd lidp/ noun a theory of lead-ership which focuses on what leaders ac-tually have to do in order to be effective,rather than on the personal qualities thatthey need to be good leaders, and whichbelieves that leadership can be taught(NOTE: Action-centred leadership is usu-ally illustrated by three overlapping cir-cles, which represent the three key ac-tivities undertaken by leaders: achievingthe task, building and maintaining theteam and developing the individual.)action rationality

action rationality /'()n r()n|lti/ noun a decision-making model

that is designed to increase the motivationfor action by presenting only a limitedrange of alternatives and stressing onlythe positive outcomesactiveactive /ktv/ adjective involvingmany transactions or activities an ac-tive demand for oil shares an active dayon the Stock Exchange Computershares are very active.active partneractive partner /ktv ptn/ nouna partner who works in a company that isa partnershipactivityactivity /k |tvti/ noun somethingwhich is done out-of-work activities

preliminary indications of the level ofbusiness investment and activity duringthe March quarter will provide a good pic-ture of economic activity in the year[Australian Financial Review]

activity chartactivity chart /k|tvti tt/ noun aplan showing work which has been done,made so that it can be compared to a pre-vious plan showing how much workshould be doneact of Godact of God /kt v !d/ noun some-thing you do not expect to happen andwhich cannot be avoided, e.g. a storm or aflood (NOTE: Acts of God are not usuallycovered by insurance policies.)ACTUACTU abbr Australian Council of TradeUnionsactualsactuals /ktulz/ plural noun realfigures These figures are the actuals forlast year.actuarialactuarial /ktu|eril/ adjective cal-culated by an actuary The premiums areworked out according to actuarial calcu-lations.actuarial tablesactuarial tables /ktuerilteb()lz/ noun lists showing how longpeople are likely to live, used to calculatelife assurance premiums and annuitiesactuaryactuary /kturi/ noun a person em-ployed by an insurance company or otherorganisation to calculate the risk involvedin an insurance, and therefore the premi-ums payable by people taking out insur-anceACUACU abbr Asian Currency Unitadad /d/ noun same as advertisement(informal) We put an ad in the paper. She answered an ad in the paper. Hefound his job through an ad in the paper.addadd /d/ verb to put figures together tomake a total If you add the interest to

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7 adjustthe capital you will get quite a large sum. Interest is added monthly.

add up phrasal verb 1. to put severalfigures together to make a total Hemade a mistake in adding up the columnof figures. the figures do not add upthe total given is not correct 2. to makesense The complaints in the letter justdo not add up.add up to phrasal verb to make a totalof The total expenditure adds up tomore than 1,000.

added value

added value /dd vlju/ noun anamount added to the value of a product orservice, equal to the difference betweenits cost and the amount received when it issold. Wages, taxes, etc. are deducted fromthe added value to give the profit. VATadding

adding /d/ adjective which adds,which makes additions an adding ma-chineaddition

addition /|d()n/ noun 1. a thing orperson added The management hasstopped all additions to the staff. We areexhibiting several additions to our prod-uct line. The marketing director is thelatest addition to the board. 2. in addi-tion to added to, as well as There aretwelve registered letters to be sent in ad-dition to this packet. 3. an arithmeticaloperation consisting of adding togethertwo or more numbers to make a sum You dont need a calculator to do simpleaddition.additional

additional /|d()nl/ adjective extrawhich is added additional costs Theysent us a list of additional charges. Some additional clauses were added tothe contract. Additional duty will haveto be paid.additional premium

additional premium /|d()nlprimim/ noun a payment made to cov-er extra items in an existing insuranceaddress

address / |dres/ noun the details ofnumber, street and town where an office islocated or a person lives My businessaddress and phone number are printed onthe card. verb to write the details of anaddress on an envelope or package aletter addressed to the managing director an incorrectly addressed package Please address your enquiries to the man-ager.address book

address book /|dres bk/ noun aspecial notebook, with columns printed in

such a way that names, addresses andphone numbers can be enteredaddresseeaddressee /dre|si/ noun a person towhom a letter or package is addressedaddress listaddress list /|dres lst/ noun a list ofnames and addresses of people and com-paniesadequateadequate /dkwt/ adjective moreor less satisfactory The results of thetests on the product were adequate.ad hoc decisionad hoc decision /d hk d|s$()n/noun a decision taken to solve a particularproblemadhocracyadhocracy /d|hkrsi/ noun a formof organisation characterised by a flexi-ble, organic structure, often comprisingexperts attached to project groups withoutfunctional divisionsadjournadjourn /|d$&n/ verb to stop a meet-ing for a period The chairman ad-journed the meeting until three oclock. The meeting adjourned at midday. ad-journ a case sine die to postpone thehearing of a case without fixing a newdate for itadjournmentadjournment /|d$&nmnt/ noun anact of adjourning He proposed the ad-journment of the meeting.adjudicateadjudicate / |d$udket/ verb to givea judgement between two parties in law orto decide a legal problem to adjudicatea claim to adjudicate in a dispute hewas adjudicated bankrupt he was de-clared legally bankruptadjudicationadjudication /|d$ud |ke()n/noun the act of giving a judgement or ofdeciding a legal problemadjudication of bankruptcyadjudication of bankruptcy /|d$udke()n v bkrptsi/ nouna legal order making someone bankruptadjudication orderadjudication order / |d$ud|ke()n d/ noun an order by a courtmaking someone bankruptadjudication tribunaladjudication tribunal / |d$ud|ke()n tra|bjun()l/ noun a groupwhich adjudicates in industrial disputesadjudicatoradjudicator /|d$udket/ noun aperson who gives a decision on a problem an adjudicator in an industrial disputeadjustadjust / |d$st/ verb to change some-thing to fit new conditions Prices areadjusted for inflation.

inflation-adjusted GNP moved up at a1.3% annual rate [Fortune]

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adjuster 8Saudi Arabia will no longer adjust its pro-duction to match short-term supply withdemand [Economist]on a seasonally-adjusted basis, outputof trucks, electric power, steel and paperdecreased [Business Week]

adjusteradjuster / |d$st/ noun a person whocalculates losses for an insurance compa-nyadjustmentadjustment /|d$stmnt/ noun theact of adjusting to make an adjustmentto salaries an adjustment of prices totake account of rising costsadjustoradjustor /|d$st/ noun same as ad-justeradminadmin /dmn/ noun 1. the work of ad-ministration, especially paperwork(informal) All this admin work takes alot of my time. There is too much adminin this job. Admin costs seem to be ris-ing each quarter. The admin peoplehave sent the report back. 2. administra-tion staff or the administration depart-ment Admin say they need the reportimmediately. She did not answer mynote but sent it on to admin. (NOTE: noplural; as a group of people it can havea plural verb)administeradminister /d|mnst/ verb to or-ganise, manage or direct the whole of anorganisation or part of one She admin-isters a large pension fund. It will be theHR managers job to administer the in-duction programme.administered priceadministered price /d|mnstdpras/ noun US a price fixed by a manu-facturer which cannot be varied by a re-tailer (NOTE: The UK term is resaleprice maintenance.)administrationadministration /d|mn|stre()n/noun 1. the action of organising, control-ling or managing a company 2. a personor group of people who manage or directan organisation It is up to the adminis-tration to solve the problem, not the gov-ernment. 3. the running of a company inreceivership by an administrator appoint-ed by the courts 4. an appointment by acourt of a person to manage the affairs ofa companyadministration costsadministration costs /d|mn|stre()n ksts/, administration ex-penses /d|mn|stre()n k|spensz/ plural noun the costs of man-agement, not including production, mar-keting or distribution costs

administrativeadministrative /d|mnstrtv/ ad-jective referring to administration ad-ministrative details administrative ex-pensesadministratoradministrator /d|mnstret/ noun1. a person who directs the work of otheremployees in a business After severalyears as a college teacher, she hopes tobecome an administrator. 2. a person ap-pointed by a court to manage the affairs ofsomeone who dies without leaving a will3. a person appointed by a court to admin-ister a company which is insolventadmissionadmission /d|m()n/ noun an act ofsaying that something really happened He had to resign after his admission thathe had passed information to the rivalcompany.admission chargeadmission charge /d |m()ntd$/ noun the price to be paid beforegoing into an area or building, e.g. to seean exhibitionadmitadmit /d|mt/ verb to say that some-thing is correct, to say that something re-ally happened The chairman admittedhe had taken the cash from the companyssafe. (NOTE: admitting admitted)admittanceadmittance /d|mt()ns/ noun the actof allowing someone to go in no admit-tance except on businessadoptadopt /|dpt/ verb to agree to some-thing or to accept somethingadoption curveadoption curve / |dpn k&v/noun a line on a graph showing how manyconsumers adopt or buy a new product atvarious time periods after the launch date The adoption curve shows that mostpeople who buy the product do so at afairly late stage.ADRADR abbr American Depositary Receiptad valorem dutyad valorem duty /d v|lrmdjuti/ noun the duty calculated on thesales value of the goodsad valorem taxad valorem tax /d v|lrem tks/noun a tax calculated according to thevalue of the goods taxedadvanceadvance /d |vns/ noun 1. moneypaid as a loan or as a part of a payment tobe made later She asked if she couldhave a cash advance. We paid her anadvance on account. Can I have an ad-vance of 100 against next months sala-ry? 2. an increase 3. in advance early,before something happens freight pay-able in advance prices fixed in advance

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9 advertising agency adjective early, or taking place beforesomething else happens advance pay-ment Advance holiday bookings are upon last year. You must give seven daysadvance notice of withdrawals from theaccount. verb 1. to pay an amount ofmoney to someone as a loan or as a part ofa payment to be made later The bankadvanced him 100,000 against the secu-rity of his house. 2. to increase Pricesgenerally advanced on the stock market.3. to make something happen earlier The date of the AGM has been advancedto May 10th. The meeting with the Ger-man distributors has been advanced from11.00 to 09.30.Advance Corporation Tax

Advance Corporation Tax /d |vns kp|re()n tks/ noun a taxwhich was abolished in 1999, paid by acompany in advance of its main corpora-tion tax payments. It was paid when divi-dends were paid to shareholders and wasdeducted from the main tax paymentwhen that fell due. It appeared on the taxvoucher attached to a dividend warrant.Abbreviation ACTadvanced manufacturing technology

advanced manufacturing tech-nology /d|vnst mnj |fktrtek|nld$i/ noun modern computer-based technology that can be introducedat every stage of the manufacturing proc-ess, from design through to assembly, tomake production faster and more effi-cient. Abbreviation AMT (NOTE: Ad-vanced manufacturing technology in-cludes such things as computer-aideddesign, computer-aided engineering,computer-integrated manufacturing, au-tomated materials handling systems,electronic data interchange and robot-ics.)advantage

advantage /d |vntd$/ noun some-thing useful which may help you to besuccessful Knowledge of two foreignlanguages is an advantage. There is noadvantage in arriving at the exhibitionbefore it opens. Fast typing is an advan-tage in a secretary. to take advantageof something to use something whichhelps youadventure training

adventure training /d|venttren/, adventure learning /d |vent l&n/ noun a type of trainingin which employees engage in groupgames and physically demanding outdooractivities such as climbing and abseiling

away from their usual work environment(NOTE: The aim of adventure training isto develop skills in leadership, problem-solving, decision-making and interper-sonal communication and to build teamspirit.)adverseadverse /dv&s/ adjective unfavoura-ble adverse balance of trade a situa-tion in which a country imports more thanit exports adverse trading conditionsbad conditions for tradeadvertadvert /dv&t/ noun same as adver-tisement (informal ) to put an advert inthe paper to answer an advert in the pa-per classified adverts display advertsadvertiseadvertise /dvtaz/ verb to arrangeand pay for publicity designed to help sellproducts or services or to find new em-ployees to advertise a vacancy to ad-vertise for a secretary to advertise anew productadvertisementadvertisement /d |v&tsmnt/ nouna notice which shows that something isfor sale, that a service is offered, thatsomeone wants something or that a job isvacantadvertisement hoardingadvertisement hoarding /d|v&tsmnt hd/ noun a large boardfor postersadvertisement manageradvertisement manager /d|v&tsmnt mnd$/ noun the man-ager in charge of the advertisement sec-tion of a newspaperadvertisement paneladvertisement panel /d|v&tsmnt pn()l/ noun a speciallydesigned large advertising space in anewspaperadvertiseradvertiser /dvtaz/ noun a personor company that advertises The cata-logue gives a list of advertisers.advertisingadvertising /dvtaz/ noun thebusiness of announcing that something isfor sale or of trying to persuade customersto buy a product or service She works inadvertising or She has a job in advertis-ing. Their new advertising campaign isbeing launched next week. The compa-ny has asked an advertising agent to pre-pare a presentation. to take advertis-ing space in a paper to book space for anadvertisement in a newspaperadvertising agencyadvertising agency /dvtazed$nsi/ noun an office which plans,designs and manages advertising for othercompanies

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advertising budget 10advertising budget

advertising budget /dvtazbd$t/ noun money planned for spend-ing on advertising Our advertisingbudget has been increased.advertising campaign

advertising campaign /dvtazkm |pen/ noun a co-ordinated publicityor advertising drive to sell a productadvertising jingle

advertising jingle /dvtazd$!()l/ noun a short and easily re-membered tune or song to advertise aproduct on television, etc.advertising manageradvertising manager /dvtazmnd$/ noun the manager in chargeof advertising a companys productsadvertising medium

advertising medium /dvtazmidim/ noun a type of advertisement,e.g. a TV commercial The product wasadvertised through the medium of thetrade press. (NOTE: The plural for thismeaning is media.)advertising ratesadvertising rates /dvtazrets/ noun the amount of money chargedfor advertising space in a newspaper oradvertising time on TVadvertising space

advertising space /dvtazspes/ noun a space in a newspaper setaside for advertisementsadvertorial

advertorial /dv |tril/ noun textin a magazine which is not written by theeditorial staff but by an advertiseradviceadvice /d|vas/ noun 1. a notificationtelling someone what has happened 2. anopinion as to what action to take Theaccountants advice was to send the doc-uments to the police. to take legal ad-vice to ask a lawyer to say what should bedone as per advice according to whatis written on the advice noteadvice note

advice note /d|vas nt/ noun thewritten notice to a customer giving detailsof goods ordered and shipped but not yetdelivered. Also called letter of adviceadvise

advise /d|vaz/ verb 1. to tell someonewhat has happened We have been ad-vised that the shipment will arrive nextweek. 2. to suggest to someone whatshould be done The lawyer advised usto send the documents to the police.

advise against phrasal verb to sug-gest that something should not be done The HR manager advised against dis-missing the staff without notice.

adviser

adviser /d|vaz/, advisor noun aperson who suggests what should be done

He is consulting the companys legaladviser.advisoryadvisory /d|vaz()ri/ adjective as anadviser She is acting in an advisory ca-pacity.Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration ServiceAdvisory, Conciliation and Arbi-tration Service /d|vaz()ri knsli|e()n nd b|tre()n s&vs/noun a British government service whicharbitrates in disputes between manage-ment and employees. AbbreviationACASadvisory boardadvisory board /d |vaz()ri bd/noun a group of advisorsaffairaffair /|fe/ noun business or dealings Are you involved in the copyright af-fair? His affairs were so difficult to un-derstand that the lawyers had to ask ac-countants for advice.affectaffect /|fekt/ verb to cause somechange in something, especially to have abad effect on something The new gov-ernment regulations do not affect us.affidavitaffidavit /f|devt/ noun a writtenstatement which is signed and sworn be-fore a solicitor, judge, JP, etc., and whichcan then be used as evidence in courtaffiliateaffiliate /|fliet/ noun a companywhich partly owns another company, or ispartly owned by the same holding compa-ny as anotheraffiliatedaffiliated / |fletd/ adjective con-nected with or owned by another compa-ny Smiths Ltd is one of our affiliatedcompanies.affiliate programmeaffiliate programme /|flitpr!rm/ noun an arrangement underwhich the owners of websites agree todisplay banners and buttons advertisinganother companys products or serviceson their websites in return for a commis-sion on any purchases from the advertisermade by their customersaffinity cardaffinity card /|fnti kd/ noun acredit card where a percentage of eachpurchase made is given by the credit cardcompany to a stated charityaffirmativeaffirmative / |f&mtv/ adjectivemeaning yes the answer was in theaffirmative the answer was yesaffirmative actionaffirmative action / |f&mtvkn/ noun US the practice of provid-ing opportunities for disadvantagedgroups such as ethnic minorities, womenor people with disabilities

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11 aggregate demandaffluenceaffluence /fluns/ noun wealth and ahigh standard of livingaffluent societyaffluent society /flunt s|sati/noun a type of society where most peopleare richaffordafford /|fd/ verb to be able to pay foror buy something We could not affordthe cost of two telephones. The compa-ny cannot afford the time to train newstaff. (NOTE: Only used after can, can-not, could, could not, able to)AFL-CIOAFL-CIO noun an organisation linkingUS trade unions. Full form AmericanFederation of Labor Congress of In-dustrial Organisationsafter-hours buyingafter-hours buying /ft az/, af-ter-hours selling, after-hours dealingnoun the activity of buying, selling ordealing in shares after the Stock Ex-change has officially closed for the day,such deals being subject to normal StockExchange rules. In this way, dealers cantake advantage of the fact that because oftime differences, the various stock ex-changes around the world are open almostall twenty-four hours of the day.after-hours tradingafter-hours trading /ft aztred/ noun trading after the Stock Ex-change had closedafter-sales serviceafter-sales service /ft selzs&vs/ noun a service of a machine car-ried out by the seller for some time afterthe machine has been boughtafter-tax profitafter-tax profit /ft tks prft/noun a profit after tax has been deductedagainstagainst /|!enst/ preposition 1. in viewof the fact that something else is owed orhas been pledged Can I have an ad-vance against next months salary? Thebank advanced him 10,000 against thesecurity of his house. 2. compared with

investment can be written off againstthe marginal rate of tax [Investors Chron-icle]

aged debtors analysisaged debtors analysis /ed$ddetz |nlss/, ageing schedule/ed$ edjul/ noun a list which anal-yses a companys debtors, showing thenumber of days their payments are out-standing

COMMENT: An ageing schedule shows allthe debtors of a company and lists (usu-ally in descending order of age) all thedebts that are outstanding. The debtorswill be shown as: X at 30 days, Y at 60days, Z at 90 days, etc.

age discriminationage discrimination /ed$ dskrm|ne()n/ noun unfair treatment result-ing from prejudice against a person on thegrounds of their age (NOTE: Countriessuch as Australia and the United Stateshave passed laws to make age discrim-ination illegal)ageismageism /ed$z()m/ noun unfair dis-crimination against older peopleage limitage limit /ed$ lmt/ noun the top ageat which you are allowed to do a job There is an age limit of thirty-five on thepost of buyer.agencyagency /ed$nsi/ noun 1. an office orjob of representing another company inan area They signed an agency agree-ment or an agency contract. 2. an office orbusiness which arranges things for othercompaniesagency labouragency labour /ed$nsi leb/noun staff supplied by an employmentagencyagendaagenda /|d$end/ noun a list of thingsto be discussed at a meeting The confer-ence agenda or the agenda of After twohours we were still discussing the firstitem on the agenda. We usually put fi-nance at the top of the agenda. Thechair wants two items removed from ortaken off the agenda.agentagent /ed$nt/ noun 1. a person whorepresents a company or another personin an area to be the agent for BMW cars to be the agent for IBM 2. a person incharge of an agency an advertisingagent The estate agent sent me a list ofproperties for sale. Our trip was organ-ised through our local travel agent. 3. (business) agent US the chief local offi-cial of a trade union Managementwould only discuss the new paymentscheme with agents officially representingthe workers.agents commissionagents commission /ed$nts k|m()n/ noun money, often a percent-age of sales, paid to an agentaggregateaggregate /!r!t/ adjective total,with everything added together aggre-gate outputaggregate demandaggregate demand /!r!t d|mnd/ noun the total demand for goodsand services from all sectors of the econ-omy including individuals, companiesand the government Economists arestudying the recent fall in aggregate de-

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aggregate supply 12mand. As incomes have risen, so hasaggregate demand.aggregate supply

aggregate supply /!r!t s |pla/noun all goods and services on the market Is aggregate supply meeting aggregatedemand?aggregator

aggregator /!r!et/ noun an or-ganisation that acts as a link between pro-ducers and customers in business dealingsover the Internet. The aggregator selectsproducts for sale over the Internet, setsprices, and ensures that orders are ful-filled.agio

agio /d$/ noun 1. a charge madefor changing money of one currency intoanother, or for changing banknotes intocash 2. the difference between two val-ues, such as between the interest chargedon loans made by a bank and the interestpaid by the bank on deposits, or the differ-ence between the values of two currenciesAGM

AGM abbr Annual General Meetingagora

agora /!r/ noun a marketplace onthe Internetagree

agree /|!ri/ verb 1. to decide and ap-prove something together with anotherperson or other people The figures wereagreed between the two parties. Wehave agreed the budgets for next year. The terms of the contract are still to beagreed. 2. to agree on something tocome to a decision that is acceptable toeveryone about something We allagreed on the need for action. 3. toagree to something to say that you acceptsomething that is suggested After somediscussion he agreed to our plan. toagree to do something to say that youwill do something She agreed to bechairman. Will the finance directoragree to resign? 4. to be the same as The two sets of calculations do not agree.

agree with phrasal verb 1. to say thatyour opinions are the same as someoneelses I agree with the chairman thatthe figures are lower than normal. 2. tobe the same as The auditors figuresdo not agree with those of the accountsdepartment.

agreed

agreed /|!rid/ adjective having beenaccepted by everyone We pay an agreedamount each month. The agreed termsof employment are laid down in the con-tract.

agreed price

agreed price /|!rid pras/ noun aprice which has been accepted by both thebuyer and selleragreed takeover bidagreed takeover bid /|!ridtekv bd/ noun a takeover bidwhich is accepted by the target companyand recommended by its directors to itsshareholdersagreementagreement /|!rimnt/ noun a spo-ken or written contract between people orgroups which explains how they will act a written agreement an unwritten orverbal agreement to draw up or to draftan agreement to break an agreement to sign an agreement to reach an agree-ment or to come to an agreement on some-thing a collective wage agreement

after three days of tough negotiationsthe company has reached agreement withits 1,200 unionized workers [TorontoStar]

agricultural co-operativeagricultural co-operative /!r|klt()rl k prtv/ noun a farmrun by groups of workers who are theowners and share the profitsagricultural economistagricultural economist /!r |klt()rl |knmst/ noun a personwho specializes in the study of financeand investment in agricultureagriculture

agriculture /!rklt/ noun use ofland for growing crops or raising animals,etc. Agriculture is still an importantpart of the nations economy.ahead

ahead /|hed/ adverb in front of, betterthan We are already ahead of our salesforecast. The company has a lot of workahead of it if it wants to increase its mar-ket share.aimaim /em/ noun something which you tryto do One of our aims is to increase thequality of our products. the companyhas achieved all its aims the companyhas done all the things it had hoped to do verb to try to do something Eachmember of the sales team must aim todouble their previous years sales. Weaim to be No. 1 in the market within twoyears.air

air /e/ noun a method of travelling orsending goods using aircraft to send aletter or a shipment by air verb to aira grievance to talk about or discuss agrievance The management committeeis useful because it allows the workersrepresentatives to air their grievances.

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13 allowair cargoair cargo /e k!/ noun goodssent by airair carrierair carrier /e kri/ noun a companywhich sends cargo or passengers by airair forwardingair forwarding /e fwd/ nounthe process of arranging for goods to beshipped by airair freightair freight /e fret/ noun the transpor-tation of goods in aircraft, or goods sentby air to send a shipment by air freight Air freight tariffs are rising.airfreightairfreight /efret/ verb to send goodsby air to airfreight a consignment toMexico We airfreighted the shipmentbecause our agent ran out of stock.airlineairline /elan/ noun a company whichcarries passengers or cargo by airairmailairmail /emel/ noun a postal servicewhich sends letters or parcels by air tosend a package by airmail Airmailcharges have risen by 15%. verb tosend letters or parcels by air We air-mailed the document to New York.airmail envelopeairmail envelope /emelenvlp/ noun a very light envelope forsending airmail lettersairmail letterairmail letter /emel let/ noun aletter sent by airairmail stickerairmail sticker /e|mel stk/ nouna blue sticker with the words air mail,which can be stuck on an envelope or par-cel to show that it is being sent by airairmail transferairmail transfer /emel trnsf&/noun an act of sending money from onebank to another by airmailairport busairport bus /e |pt bs/ noun a buswhich takes passengers to and from anairportairport securityairport security /e|pt s|kjrti/noun actions taken to protect aircraft andpassengers against attackairport taxairport tax /ept tks/ noun a taxadded to the price of an air ticket to coverthe cost of running an airportairport terminalairport terminal /e|ptt&mn()l/ noun the main building at anairport where passengers arrive and de-partair terminalair terminal /e t&mn()l/ noun abuilding in a town where passengers meetto be taken by bus to an airport outside thetownallall /l/ adjective, pronoun everything oreveryone All (of) the managers attend-

ed the meeting. A salesman shouldknow the prices of all the products he isselling.all-inall-in /l n/ adjective including every-thing The fee payable is 150 all-in.all-in policy

all-in policy /l n plsi/ noun aninsurance policy which covers all risksall-in rateall-in rate /l n ret/ noun 1. a pricewhich covers all the costs connected witha purchase, such as delivery, tax and in-surance, as well as the cost of the goodsthemselves 2. a wage which includes allextra payments such as bonuses and meritpayallocateallocate /lket/ verb 1. to provide aparticular amount from a total sum ofmoney for a particular purpose We allo-cate 10% of revenue to publicity. $2,500 was allocated to office furniture.2. to divide something in various waysand share it out How are we going to al-locate the available office space?allocationallocation /l|ke()n/ noun theprocess of providing sums of money forparticular purposes, or a sum provided fora purpose the allocation of funds to aprojectallotallot /|lt/ verb to share out to allotshares to give a certain number of sharesto people who have applied for themallotmentallotment /|ltmnt/ noun 1. theprocess of sharing out something, espe-cially money between various depart-ments, projects or people The allotmentof funds to each project is the responsibil-ity of the finance director. 2. the act ofgiving shares in a new company to peoplewho have applied for them share allot-ment payment in full on allotmentall-out strikeall-out strike /l at strak/ noun acomplete strike by all employeesallowallow /|la/ verb 1. to say that someonecan do something Junior members ofstaff are not allowed to use the chair-mans lift. The company allows allmembers of staff to take six days holidayat Christmas. 2. to give to allow 5%discount to members of staff 3. to agree toor accept legally to allow a claim or anappeal

allow for phrasal verb 1. to give a dis-count for something, or to add an extrasum to cover something to allow formoney paid in advance Add on an ex-tra 10% to allow for postage and pack-

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allowable 14ing. delivery is not allowed fordelivery charges are not included 2. toinclude something in your calculations allow 28 days for delivery calculatethat delivery will take up to 28 days

allowableallowable /|lab()l/ adjective legal-ly accepted. Opposite disallowableallowable expensesallowable expenses /|lab()l k|spensz/ plural noun business expenseswhich can be claimed against taxallowanceallowance /|lans/ noun 1. moneywhich is given for a special reason atravel allowance or a travelling allow-ance 2. a part of an income which is nottaxed allowances against tax or tax al-lowances personal allowances 3. mon-ey removed in the form of a discount anallowance for depreciation an allow-ance for exchange loss

the compensation plan includes base,incentive and car allowance totalling$50,000+ [Globe and Mail (Toronto)]

allowed timeallowed time /|lad tam/ noun paidtime which the management agrees anemployee can spend on rest, cleaning ormeals, not workingall-risks policyall-risks policy /l rsks plsi/noun an insurance policy which coversrisks of any kind, with no exclusionsall-timeall-time /l tam/ adjective all-timehigh, all-time low highest or lowest pointever reached Sales have fallen fromtheir all-time high of last year.

shares closed at an all-time high yester-day as expectations grew of lower interestrates [Times]

alphabetical orderalphabetical order /lfbetk()ld/ noun the arrangement of recordssuch as files and index cards in the orderof the letters of the alphabetalteralter /lt/ verb to change to alter theterms of a contractalterationalteration /lt|re()n/ noun achange which has been made He madesome alterations to the terms of a con-tract. The agreement was signed with-out any alterations.alternate directoralternate director /l|t&nt da|rekt/ noun a person nominated by a di-rector to attend meetings in his placealternativealternative /l|t&ntv/ noun a thingwhich can be done instead of another What is the alternative to firing half thestaff? we have no alternative there isnothing else we can do adjective other,

which can take the place of something to find someone alternative employ-ment to find someone another jobaltogetheraltogether /lt |!e/ adverbputting everything together The staff ofthe three companies in the group come to2,500 altogether. The company lost2m last year and 4m this year, making6m altogether for the two years.a.m.a.m. /e em/ adverb in the morning, be-fore 12 midday The flight leaves at 9.20a.m. Telephone calls before 6 a.m. arecharged at the cheap rate. (NOTE: The USspelling is A.M.)amalgamateamalgamate /|ml!met/ verb tojoin together with another group Theamalgamated group includes six compa-nies.ambitionambition /m|b()n/ noun whatsomeone wants to do or achieve in theirlife We insist that our sales representa-tives have plenty of ambition. Her am-bition is to become the senior partner inthe firm.ambitiousambitious /m |bs/ adjective full ofambition, wanting to do or achieve some-thing He is ambitious, but not very com-petent.amendamend /|mend/ verb to change andmake more correct or acceptable Pleaseamend your copy of the contract accord-ingly.amendmentamendment /|mendmnt/ noun achange to a document to propose anamendment to the constitution to makeamendments to a contractAmerican Depositary ReceiptAmerican Depositary Receipt /|merkn d|pztri r|sit/ noun a doc-ument issued by an American bank to UScitizens, making them unregistered share-holders of companies in foreign coun-tries. The document allows them to re-ceive dividends from their investments,and ADRs can themselves be bought orsold. Abbreviation ADR

COMMENT: Buying and selling ADRs iseasier for American investors than buy-ing or selling the actual shares them-selves, as it avoids stamp duty and canbe carried out in dollars without incurringexchange costs.

American Stock ExchangeAmerican Stock Exchange /|merkn stk ks |tend$/ noun thesmaller of the two Stock Exchanges basedin New York (the other is the New YorkStock Exchange or NYSE). Abbreviation

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15 annuallyAmex (NOTE: Also called Curb Ex-change or Little Board, as opposed tothe Big Board, or NYSE.)AmexAmex /meks/ abbr American StockExchange (informal )AmExAmEx /meks/ abbr American Ex-pressamortisableamortisable /m |tazb()l/ ad-jective being possible to amortise Thecapital cost is amortisable over a periodof ten years.amortisationamortisation /|mta|ze()n/,amortising noun an act of amortising amortisation of a debtamortiseamortise /|mtaz/, amortize verb1. to repay a loan by regular payments,most of which pay off the interest on theloan at first, and then reduce the principalas the repayment period progresses Thecapital cost is amortised over five years.2. to depreciate or to write down the cap-ital value of an asset over a period of timein a companys accountsamountamount / |mant/ noun a quantity ofmoney A small amount has been de-ducted to cover our costs. A largeamount is still owing. What is theamount to be written off? verb toamount to to make a total of Theirdebts amount to over 1m.

amount to phrasal verb to make a totalof Their debts amount to over 1m.

AMTAMT abbr advanced manufacturing tech-nologyanalyseanalyse /nlaz/, analyze verb to ex-amine someone or something in detail to analyse a statement of account to an-alyse the market potentialanalysisanalysis /|nlss/ noun a detailedexamination and report a job analysis market analysis Her job is to produce aregular sales analysis. (NOTE: The pluralis analyses.)analystanalyst /nlst/ noun a person whoanalyses a market analyst a systemsanalystanalyticalanalytical /n|ltk()l/ adjective us-ing analysisannounceannounce /|nans/ verb to tell some-thing to the public to announce the firstyears trading results The director hasannounced a programme of investment.announcementannouncement /|nansmnt/ nounan act of telling something in public theannouncement of a cutback in expendi-

ture the announcement of the appoint-ment of a new managing director Themanaging director made an announce-ment to the staff.annualannual /njul/ adjective for one year an annual statement of income Theyhave six weeks annual leave. The com-pany has an annual growth of 5%. Weget an annual bonus. on an annual ba-sis each year The figures are revised onan annual basis.

real wages have risen at an annual rateof only 1% in the last two years[Sunday Times]the remuneration package will includean attractive salary, profit sharing and acompany car together with four weeks an-nual holiday [Times]

annual accountsannual accounts /njul |kants/plural noun the accounts prepared at theend of a financial year The annual ac-counts have been sent to the sharehold-ers.annual depreciationannual depreciation /njul d|prii|e()n/ noun a reduction in thebook value of an asset at a particular rateper year. straight line depreciationAnnual General MeetingAnnual General Meeting /njuld$en()rl mit/ noun an annualmeeting of all shareholders of a company,when the companys financial situation ispresented by and discussed with the di-rectors, when the accounts for the pastyear are approved and when dividends aredeclared and audited. Abbreviation AGM(NOTE: The US term is annual meetingor annual stockholders meeting.)annual incomeannual income /njul nkm/noun money received during a calendaryearannualisedannualised /njulazd/, annual-ized adjective shown on an annual basis

he believes this may have caused theeconomy to grow at an annualized rate ofalmost 5 per cent in the final quarter of lastyear [Investors Chronicle]

annualised percentage rateannualised percentage rate/njulazd p|sentd$ ret/ noun ayearly percentage rate, calculated by mul-tiplying the monthly rate by twelve. Ab-breviation APR (NOTE: The annualisedpercentage rate is not as accurate asthe Annual Percentage Rate (APR),which includes fees and other charges.)annuallyannually /njuli/ adverb each year The figures are updated annually.

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Annual Percentage Rate 16Annual Percentage Rate

Annual Percentage Rate /njulp|sentd$ ret/ noun a rate of interest(such as on a hire-purchase agreement)shown on an annual compound basis, andincluding fees and charges. AbbreviationAPRannual report

annual report /njul r|pt/ nouna report of a companys financial situationat the end of a year, sent to all the share-holdersannual return

annual return /njul r|t&n/ nounan official report which a registered com-pany has to make each year to the Regis-trar of Companiesannuitant

annuitant /|njutnt/ noun a personwho receives an annuityannuity

annuity /|njuti/ noun money paideach year to a retired person, usually inreturn for a lump-sum payment. The val-ue of the annuity depends on how long theperson lives, as it usually cannot bepassed on to another person. Annuitiesare fixed payments, and lose their valuewith inflation, whereas a pension can beindex-linked. to buy or to take out anannuity She has a government annuityor an annuity from the government.

COMMENT: When a person retires, he orshe is required by law to purchase acompulsory purchase annuity with thefunds accumulated in his or her pensionfund. This provides a taxable income forthe rest of his or her life, but usually it isa fixed income which does not changewith inflation.

annuity for life

annuity for life /|njuti f laf/noun annual payments made to someoneas long as they are aliveannulannul /|nl/ verb to cancel or to stopsomething being legal The contract wasannulled by the court. (NOTE: annulling annulled)annulmentannulment /|nlmnt/ noun the actof cancelling the annulment of a con-tractanswer

answer /ns/ noun a reply, a letter orconversation coming after someone haswritten or spoken my letter got no an-swer or there was no answer to my letter I am writing in answer to your letter ofOctober 6th. I tried to phone his officebut there was no answer. verb to speakor write after someone has spoken or writ-ten to you to answer a letter to write aletter in reply to a letter which you havereceived to answer the telephone to

lift the telephone when it rings and listento what the caller is sayinganswering serviceanswering service /ns()rs&vs/ noun an office which answers thetelephone and takes messages for some-one or for a companyantedateantedate /nt|det/ verb to put anearlier date on a document The invoicewas antedated to January 1st.anti-anti- /nti/ prefix againstanti-dumpinganti-dumping /nti dmp/ adjec-tive intended to stop surplus goods beingsold in foreign markets at a price that islower than their marginal costanti-dumping dutyanti-dumping duty /nti dmp/noun same as countervailing dutyanti-inflationaryanti-inflationary /nti n|fle()n()ri/ adjective restricting ortrying to restrict inflation anti-infla-tionary measuresanti-inflationary measureanti-inflationary measure /nti n|fle()n()ri me$/ noun a measuretaken to reduce inflationanti-siteanti-site /nti sat/ noun a website de-voted to attacking a particular company ororganisation. An anti-site often imitatesthe target organisations own site and isusually set up by a customer who has acomplaint against the organisation that heor she has been unable to express on theorganisations own site. Also known ashate siteanti-trustanti-trust /nti trst/ adjective at-tacking monopolies and encouragingcompetition anti-trust measuresany other businessany other business /eni bzns/ noun an item at the end of anagenda, where any matter can be raised.Abbreviation AOBAOBAOB abbr any other businessaperture envelopeaperture envelope /ptenvlp/ noun an envelope with a holein it so that the address on the letter insidecan be seenapologizeapologize /|pld$az/ verb to sayyou are sorry to apologize for the delayin answering she apologized for beinglateappealappeal / |pil/ noun 1. the fact of beingattractive 2. the act of asking a law courtor a government department to change itsdecision He lost his appeal for damagesagainst the company. she won her caseon appeal her case was lost in the firstcourt, but the appeal court said that she

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17 approachwas right verb 1. to attract The ideaof working in Australia for six months ap-pealed to her. 2. to ask a law court or agovernment department or to alter its de-cision The union appealed against thedecision of the tribunal. (NOTE: You ap-peal to a court or a person against a de-cision.)appearappear /|p/ verb to seem The com-pany appeared to be doing well. Themanaging director appears to be in con-trol.appendixappendix /|pendks/ noun 1. addi-tional sheets at the back of a contract 2.additional pages at the back of a bookapplicantapplicant /plknt/ noun a personwho applies for something an applicantfor a job or a job applicant an applicantto an industrial tribunal There werethousands of applicants for shares in thenew company.applicationapplication /pl|ke()n/ noun 1.the act of asking for something, usually inwriting, or a document in which someoneasks for something, e.g. a job sharespayable on application She sent off sixapplications for job or six job applica-tions. 2. effort or diligence She hasshown great application in her work onthe project.application formapplication form /pl|ke()nfm/ noun a form to be filled in whenapplying for a new issue of shares or for ajobapply

apply / |pla/ verb 1. to ask for some-thing, usually in writing to apply inwriting to apply in person The moreambitious of the employees will apply forthe management trainee programme. About fifty people have applied for thejob, but there is only one vacancy. 2. to af-fect or to relate to This clause appliesonly to deals outside the EU. (NOTE: [allsenses] applies applying applied)appointappoint /|pnt/ verb to choose some-one for a job We have appointed a newdistribution manager. Theyve appoint-ed Janet Smith (to the post of) manager.(NOTE: You appoint a person to a job.)appointeeappointee /pn|ti/ noun a personwho is appointed to a jobappointmentappointment /|pntmnt/ noun 1.an arrangement to meet to make or to fixan appointment with someone for twooclock He was late for his appoint-

ment. She had to cancel her appoint-ment. 2. the act of being appointed to ajob, or of appointing someone to a job on his appointment as manager whenhe was made manager 3. a jobappointments bookappointments book /|pntmntsbk/ noun a desk diary in which appoint-ments are notedappointments vacantappointments vacant /|pntmnts veknt/ noun a list (in anewspaper) of jobs which are availableapportionapportion /|p()n/ verb to shareout something, e.g. costs, funds or blame Costs are apportioned according toprojected revenue.apportionmentapportionment /|p()nmnt/noun the sharing out of costsappraisalappraisal / |prez()l/ noun a calcula-tion of the value of someone or something

we are now reaching a stage in industryand commerce where appraisals are be-coming part of the management culture.Most managers now take it for granted thatthey will appraise and be appraised[Personnel Management]

appraiseappraise /|prez/ verb to assess or tocalculate the value of something or some-oneappraiseeappraisee /pre|zi/ noun an employ-ee who is being appraised by his or hermanager in an appraisal interviewappreciateappreciate /|priiet/ verb 1. to no-tice how good something is 2. (of curren-cy, shares, etc.) to increase in valueappreciationappreciation /|prii|e()n/ noun1. an increase in value. Also called capi-tal appreciation 2. the act of valuingsomething highly She was given a payrise in appreciation of her excellent work.apprenticeapprentice /|prents/ noun a youngperson who works under contract for a pe-riod in order to be trained in a skill verb to be apprenticed to someone to workwith a skilled worker to learn from themapprenticeshipapprenticeship /|prentsp/ nounthe time spent learning a skilled trade He served a six-year apprenticeship in thesteel works.approappro /pr/ noun same as approval(informal) to buy something on approto buy something which you will only payfor if it is satisfactoryapproachapproach / |prt/ noun an act ofgetting in touch with someone with a pro-posal The company made an approach

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appropriate 18to the supermarket chain. The boardturned down all approaches on the sub-ject of mergers. We have had an ap-proach from a Japanese company to buyour car division. She has had an ap-proach from a firm of headhunters. verbto get in touch with someone with a pro-posal He approached the bank with arequest for a loan. The company wasapproached by an American publisherwith the suggestion of a merger. Wehave been approached several times buthave turned down all offers. She wasapproached by a headhunter with the of-fer of a job.appropriate

appropriate adjective /|prprit/suitable I leave it to you to take appro-priate action. verb /|prpriet/ toput a sum of money aside for a specialpurpose to appropriate a sum of moneyfor a capital projectappropriation

appropriation /|prpri |e()n/noun the act of putting money aside for aspecial purpose appropriation of fundsto the reserveappropriation account

appropriation account /|prpri |e()n |kant/ noun the part of a prof-it and loss account which shows how theprofit has been dealt with, e.g., how muchhas been given to the shareholders as div-idends and how much is being put into thereservesapproval

approval /|pruv()l/ noun 1. the actof saying or thinking that something isgood to submit a budget for approval 2. on approval in order to be able to usesomething for a period of time and checkthat it is satisfactory before paying for it to buy a photocopier on approvalapprove

approve /|pruv/ verb 1. to approveof something to think something is good The chairman approves of the new com-pany letter heading. The sales staff donot approve of interference from the ac-counts division. 2. to agree to somethingofficially to approve the terms of a con-tract The proposal was approved by theboard.approximate

approximate /|prksmt/ adjectivenot exact, but almost correct The salesdivision has made an approximate fore-cast of expenditure.approximately

approximately /|prksmtli/ ad-verb not quite exactly, but close to the fig-ure shown Expenditure on marketing is

approximately 10% down on the previousquarter.approximationapproximation / |prks|me()n/noun a rough calculation Each depart-ment has been asked to provide an ap-proximation of expenditure for next year. The final figure is only an approxima-tion.APR

APR abbr Annual Percentage Rateaptitudeaptitude /pttjud/ noun the abilityto do somethingaptitude test

aptitude test /pt|tjud test/ nouna test to see if a candidate is suitable for acertain type of work. Compare attain-ment testARAR abbr accounts receivablearbitrage

arbitrage /b|tr$/ noun the busi-ness of making a profit from the differ-ence in value of various assets, e.g. byselling foreign currencies or commoditieson one market and buying on another atalmost the same time to profit from differ-ent exchange rates, or by buying curren-cies forward and selling them forward ata later date, to benefit from a difference inpricesarbitrage syndicatearbitrage syndicate /btr$sndkt/ noun a group of people whotogether raise the capital to invest in arbi-trage dealsarbitrageur

arbitrageur /btred$/, arbitrager/btr|$&/ noun a person whosebusiness is arbitrage

COMMENT: Arbitrageurs buy shares incompanies which are potential takeovertargets, either to force up the price of theshares before the takeover bid, or simplyas a position while waiting for the takeo-ver bid to take place. They also sellshares in the company which is expect-ed to make the takeover bid, since one ofthe consequences of a takeover bid isusually that the price of the target com-pany rises while that of the bidding com-pany falls. Arbitrageurs may then sell theshares in the target company at a profit,either to one of the parties making thetakeover bid, or back to the company it-self.

arbitratearbitrate /btret/ verb (of an out-side party) to try to settle an industrialdispute by talking to representatives ofboth sides, who agree in advance to abideby the arbitrators decisionarbitration

arbitration /b|tre()n/ noun thesettling of a dispute by an outside partyagreed on by both sides to take a dis-

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19 arrivepute to arbitration or to go to arbitration arbitration in an industrial dispute The two sides decided to submit the dis-pute to arbitration or to refer the questionto arbitration.arbitration board

arbitration board /b|tre()nbd/ noun a group which arbitratesarbitrator

arbitrator /btret/ noun a personnot concerned with a dispute who is cho-sen by both sides to try to settle it an in-dustrial arbitrator They refused to ac-cept or they rejected the arbitrators rul-ing.archive

archive /kav/ noun 1. a collectionof documents and records preserved fortheir historical interest 2. a set of copiesof computer files, often stored in com-pressed form 3. a directory of files that In-ternet users can accessarchives

archives /kavz/ noun old docu-ments which are kept safely The com-panys archives go back to its foundationin 1892.area

area /eri/ noun 1. a measurement ofthe space taken up by something (calcu-lated by multiplying the length by thewidth) a no-smoking area The area ofthis office is 3,400 square feet. We arelooking for a shop with a sales area ofabout 100 square metres. 2. a subject aproblem area or an area for concern 3. adistrict or part of a town The office is inthe commercial area of the town. Theirfactory is in a very good area for gettingto the motorways and airports. 4. a part ofa country, a division for commercial pur-poses Her sales area is the North-West. He finds it difficult to cover all his areain a week. 5. a part of a room, factory, res-taurant, etc. a no-smoking areaarea code

area code /eri kd/ noun a specialtelephone number which is given to a par-ticular area The area code for centralLondon is 0207.area manager

area manager /eri mnd$/noun a manager who is responsible for acompanys work in a specific part of thecountryargue

argue /!ju/ verb to discuss some-thing about which you do not agree theyargued over or about the price We spenthours arguing with the managing directorabout the site for the new factory. Theunion officials argued among themselves

over the best way to deal with the ultima-tum from the management.argument

argument /!jmnt/ noun 1. an actof discussing something without agreeing She was sacked after an argument withthe managing director. 2. a reason forsupporting or rejecting something Thedocument gives the managements argu-ments in favour of flexible working hours.arising

arising /|raz/ adjective whichcomes from differences arising from thecontractaround

around /|rand/ preposition approxi-mately The office costs around 2,000a year to heat. Her salary is around$85,000.arrange

arrange /|rend$/ verb to organise We arranged to have the meeting in theiroffices. (NOTE: You arrange for someoneto do something; you arrange for some-thing to be done; or you arrange to dosomething.)arrangement

arrangement /|rend$mnt/ noun 1.the way in which something is organised The company secretary is making allthe arrangements for the meeting. 2. thesettling of a financial dispute He cameto an arrangement with his creditors.arrangement fee

arrangement fee /|rend$mnt fi/noun a charge made by a bank to a clientfor arranging credit facilitiesarrears

arrears /|rz/ plural noun 1. moneywhich is owed, but which has not beenpaid at the right time a salary with ar-rears effective from January 1st We arepressing the company to pay arrears ofinterest. You must not allow the mort-gage payments to fall into arrears. 2. inarrears owing money which should havebeen paid earlier The payments are sixmonths in arrears. He is six weeks inarrears with his rent.arrival

arrival /|rav()l/ noun reaching aplace We are waiting for the arrival ofa consignment of spare parts. to awaitarrival note written on an envelope toask for it to be kept safe until the person itis addressed to arrivesarrive

arrive / |rav/ verb to reach a place The consignment has still not arrived. The shipment arrived without any docu-mentation. The plane arrives in Sydneyat 04.00. The train leaves Paris at 09.20and arrives at Bordeaux two hours later.

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article 20(NOTE: You arrive at or in a place ortown, but only in a country.)

arrive at phrasal verb to work out andagree on something They very quicklyarrived at an acceptable price. Aftersome discussion we arrived at a com-promise.

article

article /tk()l/ noun 1. a product orthing for sale to launch a new article onthe market a black market in luxury ar-ticles 2. a section of a legal agreementsuch as a contract or treaty See article 8of the contract.articled clerk

articled clerk /tk()ld klk/noun a clerk who is bound by contract towork in a solicitors office for some yearsto learn the law (NOTE: Such as person isnow officially called a trainee solicitor,though the old term is still used)article numbering system

article numbering system/tk()l nmbr sstm/ noun auniversal system of identifying articlesfor sale, using a series of digits which canbe expressed as bar codesarticles

articles /tk()lz/ plural noun a timewhen a clerk is working in a solicitors of-fice learning the law (NOTE: officially nowcalled a training contract, though theold term is still used)articles of association

articles of association /tk()lzv |ssi|e()n/ plural noun a docu-ment which lays down the rules for acompany regarding such matters as the is-sue of shares, the conduct of meetings andthe appointment of directors This pro-cedure is not allowed under the articles ofassociation of the company.articles of incorporation

articles of incorporation/tk()lz v n |kp|re()n/ pluralnoun US a document which sets up acompany and lays down the relationshipbetween the shareholders and the compa-ny (NOTE: The UK term is Memorandumof Association.)articulated lorry

articulated lorry / |tkjletdlri/, articulated vehicle /|tkjletd vik()l/ noun a large lorryformed of two parts, the second pulled bythe firstartisan

artisan /t|zn/ noun a worker whohas special training in a manual skillasap

asap /e es e pi, esp/, ASAP ab-breviation as soon as possible

A sharesA shares /e ez/ plural noun ordi-nary shares with limited voting rights orno voting rights at all

COMMENT: A company may be set upwith two classes of share: A shares,which are available to the general inves-tor, and B shares which are only boughtby certain individuals, such as the found-er and his family. Such division of sharesis becoming less usual nowadays.

Asian Currency UnitAsian Currency Unit /e$()nkrnsi junt/ noun a unit of accountfor dollar deposits held in Singapore andother Asian markets. Abbreviation ACUasideaside /|sad/ adverb to one side, out ofthe way to put aside, to set aside tosave (money) He is putting 50 asideeach week to pay for his car.askask /sk/ verb 1. to put a question tosomeone He asked the information of-fice for details of companies exhibiting atthe motor show. Ask the salesgirl if thebill includes VAT. 2. to tell someone to dosomething He asked the switchboardoperator to get him a number in Germa-ny. She asked her secretary to fetch afile from the managing directors office. Customs officials asked him to open hiscase.

ask for phrasal verb 1. to say that youwant or need something They askedfor more time to repay the loan. 2. to puta price on something for sale They areasking 24,000 for the car.

asking priceasking price /sk pras/ noun aprice which the seller is hoping will bepaid for the item being sold the askingprice is 24,000as peras per /z p&/ peraspirationsaspirations /sp|re()nz/ pluralnoun ambitions or hopes of advancementin your jobassay markassay mark /se mk/ noun a markput on gold or silver items to show thatthe metal is of the correct qualityassembleassemble / |semb()l/ verb to put aproduct together from various parts Theengines are made in Japan and the bodiesin Scotland, and the cars are assembled inFrance.assemblyassembly /|sembl/ noun 1. the proc-ess of putting an item together from vari-ous parts There are no assembly in-structions to show you how to put thecomputer together. We cant put the ma-chine together because the instructions

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21 associationfor assembly are in Japanese. 2. an offi-cial meetingassembly line

assembly line /|sembli lan/ noun aproduction system where a product suchas a car moves slowly through the factorywith new sections added to it as it goesalong She works on an assembly line orShe is an assembly line worker.assertiveness

assertiveness /|s&tvns/ noun theability to state opinions or show that youcan make decisionsassertiveness training

assertiveness training /|s&tvnstren/ noun the process of trainingemployees to have more confidence inthemselvesassess

assess / |ses/ verb to calculate the val-ue of something or someone to assessdamages at 1,000 to assess a propertyfor the purposes of insuranceassessment

assessment /|sesmnt/ noun a cal-culation of value a property assessment a tax assessment They made a com-plete assessment of each employees con-tribution to the organisation.assessor

assessor /|ses/ noun a person whomakes assessments, e.g. for tax or insur-ance purposes, or for competence-basedqualifications in the workplaceasset

asset /set/ noun something which be-longs to a company or person, and whichhas a value He has an excess of assetsover liabilities. Her assets are only640 as against liabilities of 24,000.

many companies are discovering that awell-recognised brand name can be apriceless asset that lessens the risk of in-troducing a new product [DunsBusiness Month]

asset stripper

asset stripper /set strp/ noun aperson who buys a company to sell its as-setsasset stripping

asset stripping /set strp/ nounthe practice of buying a company at alower price than its asset value, and thenselling its assetsasset value

asset value /set vlju/ noun thevalue of a company calculated by addingtogether all its assetsassign

assign /|san/ verb 1. to give some-thing to someone by means of an officiallegal transfer to assign a right to some-one to assign shares to someone 2. togive someone a job of work to do andmake him or her responsible for doing it

She was assigned the task of checkingthe sales figures.assignationassignation /s!|ne()n/ noun alegal transfer the assignation of sharesto someone the assignation of a patentassigneeassignee /sa|ni/ noun a personwho receives something which has beenassigned to him or herassignmentassignment /|sanmnt/ noun 1. thelegal transfer of a property or right theassignment of a patent or of a copyright to sign a deed of assignment 2. a particu-lar task given to someone Her first as-signment was to improve the companysimage. The oil team is on an assignmentin the North Sea.assignorassignor /sa|n/ noun a personwho assigns something to someoneassistassist /|sst/ verb to help Can youassist the stock controller in counting thestock? She assists me with my incometax returns. (NOTE: You assist someonein doing something or with something.)assistanceassistance /|sst()ns/ noun help Some candidates need assistance in fill-ing in the form.assistantassistant / |sst()nt/ noun a personwho helps or a clerical employeeassistant managerassistant manager /|sst()ntmnd$/ noun a person who helps amanagerassociateassociate /|ssit/ adjective linked noun a person who works in the samebusiness as someone She is a businessassociate of mine.associate companyassociate company / |ssitkmp()ni/ noun a company which ispartly owned by another companyassociatedassociated /|ssietd/ adjectivelinkedassociated companyassociated company /|ssietdkmp()ni/ noun a company which ispartly owned by another company(though less than 50%), which exertssome management control over it or has aclose trading rela