LI'ABLE, a. [L. ligo. See Liege.] 1. Bound; obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable. The surety is liable for the debt of his principal. The parent is not liable for debts contracted by a son who is a minor, except for necessaries.This use of liable is now common among lawyers. The phrase is abridged. The surety is liable, that is, bound to pay the debt of his principal.2. Subject; obnoxious; exposed.Proudly secure, yet liable to fall.Liable, in this sense, is always applied to evils. We never say, a man is liable to happiness or prosperity, but he is liable to disease, calamities, censure; he is liable to err, to sin, to fall.
|
