general average

American  

noun

1. Insurance. any damage or loss to a ship or its cargo voluntarily sustained, as freight jettisoned in a storm, by all parties to a voyage (particular average ). G.A.

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general average British  

noun

1.  GA.  insurance loss or damage to a ship or its cargo that is shared among the shipowners and all the cargo owners Compare particular average

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Etymology

Origin of general average

First recorded in 1690–1700

Example Sentences

The company made a “general average” declaration, which allows a third-party adjuster to determine what each stakeholder should contribute.

From Seattle Times

Part of that fight may involve a little-known ancient principle of maritime law called “general average.”

From New York Times

“General average is a shared sacrifice,” said William Fennell, chair of the Marine Insurance and General Average Committee for the Maritime Law Association of the United States.

From New York Times

Classic cases involved jettisoning cargo — if the crew had to lighten a ship’s load to avoid sinking and tossed some but not all cargo, under general average everyone chipped in for the loss.

From New York Times

I came to the conclusion that the classic way that we’ve developed products through 2019 was some average of the people I hired who brought their methodology from their company—I picked some kind of general average that seemed to make everyone happy.

From Slate