marginal

adj 1: at or constituting a border or edge; "the marginal strip of

beach" [syn: {edge(a)}, {fringe(a)}, {fringy}]

2: of questionable or minimal quality; "borderline grades";

"marginal writing ability" [syn: {borderline}]

3: of a bare living gained by great labor; "the sharecropper's

hardscrabble life"; "a marginal existence" [syn: {hardscrabble}]

4: just barely adequate or within a lower limit; "a bare

majority"; "a marginal victory" [syn: {bare(a)}]

5: producing at a rate that barely covers production costs;

"marginal industries"; "marginal land"

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)