Dictionary.com
definitions

merger

[mur-jer]
See more synonyms for merger on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a statutory combination of two or more corporations by the transfer of the properties to one surviving corporation.
  2. any combination of two or more business enterprises into a single enterprise.
  3. an act or instance of merging.

Origin of merger

First recorded in 1720–30; merge + -er1
Related formsan·ti·merg·er, adjectivede·merg·er, nounpre·merg·er, adjectivepro·merg·er, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for merger

union, tie-up, unification, combination, takeover, alliance, amalgamation, cahoots, hookup, fusion, coalition, tie-in, incorporation, organization, lineup, pool, melding, mergence

Examples from the Web for merger

Contemporary Examples of merger

Historical Examples of merger

  • We find that every departure from one merger is entrance upon another.

  • This was the first trust—what they call a merger—but it occurred in politics.

  • After all, this was a day of merger, and you couldn't have too much of it!

  • So a merger of the two seemed vital to the interests of both.

    The Land of Tomorrow

    William B Stephenson, Jr.

  • St. John says that this merger was made at the instigation of the Mine Owners.

    The I.W.W.

    Paul Frederick Brissenden

British Dictionary definitions for merger

merger

noun
  1. commerce the combination of two or more companies, either by the creation of a new organization or by absorption by one of the othersOften called (Brit): amalgamation
  2. law the extinguishment of an estate, interest, contract, right, offence, etc, by its absorption into a greater one
  3. the act of merging or the state of being merged
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for merger
n.

1728 in legal sense, "extinguishment by absorption," from merge (v.), on analogy of French infinitives used as nouns (e.g. waiver). From 1889 in the business sense; not common until c.1926. General meaning "any act of merging" is from 1881.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
merger in Culture

merger

The union of two or more independent corporations under a single ownership. Also known as takeovers, mergers may be friendly or hostile. In the latter case, the buying company, having met with resistance from directors of the targeted company, usually offers an inflated (overmarket) price to persuade stockholders of the targeted company to sell their shares to it. Such mergers often have been financed by junk bonds.

Note

Especially common in the 1980s, hostile takeovers have become highly controversial. Some contend that they bring needed infusions of capital and efficiency to the targeted company. Others argue that, having borrowed heavily to finance the merger, the buyer is forced to sell valuable assets of the targeted company to pay off its debt.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.