assets
Americanplural noun
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Finance. items or resources owned by a person, business, or government, as cash, notes and accounts receivable, securities, inventories, goodwill, fixtures, machinery, or real estate (opposed to liabilities).
Infrastructure assets, such as telecommunications systems, are not as available or as reliable in developing countries.
Depreciation applies only to tangible assets, which are the assets that exist in physical form, like vehicles, computers, etc.
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Accounting. the items detailed on a balance sheet, especially in relation to liabilities and capital.
The balance sheet lists assets and liabilities in order of liquidity; in other words, the assets most easily converted to cash are listed first.
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Law. all property available for the payment of debts for a bankrupt or insolvent business or person, or the payment of legacies or debts for a deceased person.
It is the job of the receiver to sell your assets and distribute the proceeds to your creditors.
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Informal. parts of a person’s body seen as sexual or attractive, especially a woman’s breasts or buttocks.
That slinky, shiny outfit really shows off her assets.
plural noun
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accounting the property and claims against debtors that a business enterprise may apply to discharge its liabilities. Assets may be fixed, current, liquid, or intangible and are shown balanced against liabilities Compare liabilities
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law the property available to an executor or administrator for settlement of the debts and payment of legacies of the estate of a deceased or insolvent person
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any property owned by a person or firm
Etymology
Origin of assets
First recorded in 1300–50, for a previous sense; in phrase have assets “have enough (to pay obligations)”; see asset ( def. )
Explanation
Your assets are things you have that are valuable. Money, property, and skills are all assets. When you talk about assets, you're talking about things that are good to have: they're worth something or they're useful. Money is certainly an asset. A house you own is an asset. If you're an employer, good employees are assets to the company. Personal qualities can be assets, too: if you're smart, brave, or even just good looking, consider it an asset.
Vocabulary lists containing assets
This Week in Words: November 4 - 10, 2017
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Dwight D. Eisenhower, "The Military-Industrial Complex" (1961)
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Economics
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The organizer of the Nashville event was a unit of Apex, which services trillions of dollars of assets for fund managers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
“That goes to show that, in the event there are concerns about risk assets, Treasurys will continue to be that flight-to-quality asset class,” Lorizio said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
The stage for the possible marriage was set this year when SpaceX acquired Musk’s privately held xAI company in a $1.25-trillion deal that brought the AI company’s assets to the rocket maker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
For some voters, the 66-year-old Eisenkot's lack of charisma may be one of his greatest assets.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
As White later reported to Hoover, “MOLLIE appears to have been the first means to draw HALE, through the BURKHARTS, the assets of the entire family.”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.