margin

n 1: the boundary line or the area immediately inside the

boundary [syn: {border}, {perimeter}]

2: a permissible difference [syn: {allowance}, {leeway}, {tolerance}]

3: the amount of collateral a customer deposits with a broker

when borrowing from the broker to buy securities [syn: {security

deposit}]

4: (corporate finance) net sales minus the cost of goods and

services sold [syn: {gross profit}, {gross profit margin}]

5: the blank space that surrounds the text on a page

6: a strip near the boundary of an object; "he jotted a note on

the margin of the page" [syn: {edge}]

marginal

1. Extremely small. "A marginal increase in {core}

can decrease {GC} time drastically." In everyday terms, this

means that it is a lot easier to clean off your desk if you

have a spare place to put some of the junk while you sort

through it.

2. Of extremely small merit. "This proposed new feature seems

rather marginal to me."

3. Of extremely small probability of {win}ning. "The power

supply was rather marginal anyway; no wonder it fried."

[{Jargon File}]

(1994-10-21)