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submarginal

American  
[suhb-mahr-juh-nl] / sʌbˈmɑr dʒə nl /

adjective

  1. Biology. near the margin.

  2. below the margin.

  3. not worth cultivating, as land; less than satisfactory; unproductive.


submarginal British  
/ sʌbˈmɑːdʒɪnəl /

adjective

  1. below the minimum requirements

  2. situated close to the margin of an organ or part

  3. (of land) infertile and unprofitable for cultivation

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of submarginal

First recorded in 1820–30; sub- + marginal

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.

Scheduled to be reported out of committee shortly, the Guffey bill would create a national bituminous coal commission empowered to fix prices and wages, allocate production, buy up $300,000,000 worth of submarginal coal land.

From Time Magazine Archive

Only on such minor policies as transportation, reciprocal trade pacts, retirement of submarginal land and direct subsidies for shipping did the Chamber support the President.

From Time Magazine Archive

He also campaigned tirelessly to educate Southerners in the economic importance of growing timber on submarginal Texas farm land.

From Time Magazine Archive

Charging in from opposite directions, Ohio's Taft wanted to cut out the $12.5 million "outhouse fund" for submarginal farms, and North Dakota's maverick Republican William Langer wanted to double it.

From Time Magazine Archive

They and the coyotes lived clever, despairing, submarginal lives.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

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