[syn: bare(a), marginal]
4. producing at a rate that barely covers production costs;
- Example: "marginal industries"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Marginal \Mar"gin*al\, a. [Cf. F. marginal.]
1. Of or pertaining to a margin.
[1913 Webster]
2. Written or printed in the margin; as, a marginal note or
gloss.
[1913 Webster]
3. At the lower limit; barely sufficient; as, of marginal
utility.
[PJC] marginal cost
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
marginal
adj 1: at or constituting a border or edge; "the marginal strip
of beach" [syn: fringy, marginal]
2: of questionable or minimal quality; "borderline grades";
"marginal writing ability" [syn: borderline, marginal]
3: just barely adequate or within a lower limit; "a bare
majority"; "a marginal victory" [syn: bare(a), marginal]
4: producing at a rate that barely covers production costs;
"marginal industries"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
41 Moby Thesaurus words for "marginal":
bordering, borderline, boundary, bounding, coastal, determinant,
determinative, determining, disputable, doubtful, dubious, extreme,
fringing, frontier, inferior, infinitesimal, insignificant, limbic,
liminal, limit, limiting, littoral, low-priority, minimal,
negligible, no great shakes, of no account, of no consequence,
of no matter, of no significance, on the edge, questionable,
rimming, secondary, skirting, slight, small, terminal, threshold,
tiny, unimportant
The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
marginal
adj.
[common]
1. [techspeak] An extremely small change. ?A marginal increase in core
can decrease GC time drastically.? In everyday terms, this means that it
is a lot easier to clean off your desk if you have a spare place to put
some of the junk while you sort through it.
2. Of little merit. ?This proposed new feature seems rather marginal to me.
?
3. Of extremely small probability of winning. ?The power supply was
rather marginal anyway; no wonder it fried.?
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
marginal
1. Extremely small. "A marginal increase in core
can decrease GC time drastically." In everyday terms, this
means that it is a lot easier to clean off your desk if you
have a spare place to put some of the junk while you sort
through it.
2. Of extremely small merit. "This proposed new feature seems
rather marginal to me."
3. Of extremely small probability of winning. "The power
supply was rather marginal anyway; no wonder it fried."
[Jargon File]
(1994-10-21)