asset
Americannoun
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a useful and desirable thing or quality.
Organizational ability is an asset.
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a single item of ownership having exchange value.
Our summer home is an asset we're not willing to sell.
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Digital Technology. one of the media components that, taken together, comprise all of the elements of a video game, such as the environments, objects, character art and animation, and sound design.
All of the game assets are downloaded to your hard drive during the install, so slow load times are local and indicate a problem with your drive.
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(in intelligence and information gathering) a person followed or spied upon to obtain information, who may be consenting, forced, or unaware of being used.
They threatened to release a catalog of virtually every CIA asset within the Soviet Union.
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Military. a physical resource, such as a piece of equipment, vehicle, or building.
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assets. see assets.
noun
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Commonly, the term denotes anything of value.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of asset
First recorded in 1525–35; back formation from assets, in phrase have assets, literally, “have enough (to pay obligations),” from Anglo-French, Old French asez “enough,” from unattested Vulgar Latin ad satis “to sufficiency”; see also assai 1
Explanation
An asset is something you have that is positive. It can mean a piece of property, a piece of equipment, an ability, or even a quality. "Her facility with math is an asset when it comes to figuring out the restaurant tab. She is an asset to the group." A person's overall financial picture is determined by lining up everything they own in the asset column, and everything they owe in the liability (or debit) column.
Vocabulary lists containing asset
Hatchet
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Trumps
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This Week in Words: March 30–April 5, 2019
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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.
See Examples For:
Improving financial well-being doesn’t just require addressing income,but challenges on “both the asset side and the debt side.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Is Microsoft laying off 3,200 employees from the Xbox division just a new boss coming in and pruning an overgrown asset, or is it a sign that console gaming is coming to the end?
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Some central banks could be forced to sell part of their gold reserves to stabilize their currencies as oil prices start to rise, which prevents gold from acting like a safe-haven asset.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Experts say digital asset platforms have been used to circumvent sanctions placed on Iran's Revolutionary Guards and as a financial safe haven for civilians hit by soaring inflation.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
“People said, ‘Wow, there is an asset here, and we should take advantage of it,’ ” said Microsoft’s Mundie.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
Your index fund has just over 7% of its assets in Apple, raising your combined exposure well past 25%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
While your primary home, your car as well as your retirement accounts are exempt from being liquidated in Chapter 7, your other assets are fair game.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
A Nigerian court Friday dismissed a lawsuit by a traditional monarch in the oil-rich delta region seeking to halt Shell's plan to offload its onshore assets over accusations of decades of environmental pollution.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
“They are highly profitable assets that should start to contribute to the top-line as the HIV business starts to slow down.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
On an overlooking hill was the turreted mansion occupied by the company general superintendent, a man sent down by our owners in Ohio to keep an eye on their assets.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
