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

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 • Mar. 30, 2024

Michael Shifter, a senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think tank, said the 24% abstention is high in historical terms since the general average for non-participation has been 10%.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 27, 2023

No notable acting enlivened these proceedings, though the general average was steadily good enough.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sanity is merely the general average of a community's general behavior.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is called general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the sacrifice.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah