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Use liable in a sentence

Definition of liable:

  • (adjective) subject to legal action; "liable to criminal charges"
  • (adjective) (often followed by `to') likely to be affected with; "liable to diabetes"
  • (adjective) held legally responsible;
  • (adjective) at risk of or subject to experiencing something usually unpleasant;

Sentence Examples:

Those who oppose this method of euthanasia base their argument, first, on the fact that many patients supposed by even clever diagnosticians to be incurable recover health; and, secondly, on the fact that the giving power of life and death to physicians is liable to grave abuse.

Indeed, as I pointed out in my second lecture, they are readily upset by other influences besides these, including indigestion, to which the victim of hurry and worry is peculiarly liable; and they must be prepared to have to lead a life of comparative temperance and self-denial.

Nervousness, a dirty rifle, a bullet which does not fill the grooves, the unsteadiness of the attendant, or other causes of inaccuracy are within the range of possibility, and any danger, especially where another is liable to be the sufferer, should be avoided and discouraged by audiences.

Any person in active practice who is not blessed with a most tenacious and particular memory is liable to forget a great many details which, with a record in hand, properly kept, could be brought to his memory and be testified to with absolute truthfulness and conviction.

Persons, whose fancies have been much disturbed in early life, by the tales of nurses, and other follies of an injudicious education, creating a timid and superstitious mind, are more especially liable to have their fears alarmed, and their imagination excited by every object in the dark.

When gangrene follows the tight application of a ligature, the death of the part seems to depend more on obstruction to the circulation of the blood, than on any diminution of the nervous energy, for we do not observe that paralytic limbs are peculiarly liable to gangrene.

The subject is of a nature so delicate, and anything I can say upon it is so liable to misconstruction, that I should not have answered your letter, had I not felt that you have always deserved my friendship, and that I might rely with confidence on your discretion.

Stone and wood, they say, are the only proper materials, because each part must be wrought by hand, and cannot be cast or molded; and further, iron being liable to rust, suggests decay and want of permanence, and these are characters incompatible with noble building.

For if they admitted any small band, which went on its way immediately, and could make no attempt to defend them on the reappearance of the enemy, they were liable to be executed as traitors by the French, and their town would be fined or perhaps sacked.

If someone had called at the shop and mentioned that Cartwright had killed three wives, and was now liable to a charge of bigamy, it is probable I should have contented myself with the remark that at any rate he was a well-spoken and a good-looking man.

A young lady on the point of making an establishment, and with many engagements in her power, is extremely liable to be mistaken in her judgment, and therefore should solicit instruction from those who are able to acquaint her what connection would be most to her advantage.

There were moments when she acquiesced in the suggestions offered in the form of admiration, and others when she stiffened with distaste, with a realization that she herself was liable to attack, with horror for the beautiful luxurious room, the crippled woman, the listening cat.

Inasmuch as many such offenses had generally gone unpunished owing to the large number of those who had incurred penalties, he commanded that if many should do this, they should draw lots, and every fifth one to draw a lot should be held liable to punishment.

They therefore thought erroneously that all substances in the universe exist of themselves and can never be reduced to nothing, and that thus they depend upon no other thing save in respect of their modifications, which are liable to be destroyed by the action of an external cause.

A woman, who attempts to carry out any plans of system, order, and economy, and who has her feelings and habits conformed to certain rules, is constantly liable to have her plans crossed, and her taste violated, by the inexperience or inattention of those about her.

This fact might have been expected on my theory, for, as already explained, species occasionally arriving after long intervals in a new and isolated district, and having to compete with new associates, will be eminently liable to modification, and will often produce groups of modified descendants.

Unless amply guarded by thousands ready to die in its defense, it is ever liable to fall a prey to some one of its many enemies, which are all agreed in this one opinion, at least, that stolen honey is much more sweet than the slow accumulations of patient industry.

In bright weather, he did choose occasions for getting a little above these lower shadows; but, being at all times liable to be called by his electric bell, and at such times listening for it with redoubled anxiety, the relief was less than I would suppose.

In wounds of all descriptions there is necessarily more or less bleeding, and this is especially liable to be the case in incised wounds, particularly when they penetrate to a considerable depth, or when inflicted on a part where blood vessels of any considerable size approach the surface.

Suppose a ship was decayed in places, and these were intentionally so concealed that they could not easily be seen by one who was examining with the intention of purchasing, and he was thereby misled, the seller would be liable for the loss to the purchaser.

His moral character has been impeached by some; but we may presume that it was not liable to any serious imputation, otherwise his faults would not have escaped the observation of his numerous enemies, who yet could only prefer against him some vague charges of impiety.

Care must be exercised while and after cleaning the mainspring, in order that it may come in contact with the fingers as little as possible, as the acids contained in perspiration are liable to be transferred to the spring and so work serious injury by contaminating the oil.

The wild men had been so often treacherously deceived by tamed specimens of their own race who, after gaining their confidence, betrayed them to the Boers, that any stranger with the taint of civilization upon him was liable to be put to death with horrible tortures.

He found that there were rather more things to remember in a very short space of time when making his shot than he had ever had to remember before, and that for the first time in his life he was liable to forgetfulness on the most important occasions.

The offenders may be arrested by the owner or occupier of the land or their servants, and if the offenders assault or offer violence by firearms or offensive weapons they are liable to be indicted and on conviction punished to the same extent as in the last offense.

This loosening of the attachments of the fiber is supposed to be owing to a diminution, during winter, of the nutritive process at the root of the hair, so that the fiber is liable to give way at the tender part when the fleece becomes heavy during Spring.

I think dogs kept in a house as pets are more liable to disease, than those kept in kennels, from often having no regular meals or rules, but constantly being fed by many people, and so getting more than they require of food, but much less of exercise.

You may imagine Robert Bloomfield stitching away at ladies' shoes, and tagging rhymes at the same time, in great peace and bodily comfort; being a journeyman for a long time, and when he had got his work from his master, being liable to very little interruption.

Of course, while barristers have no legal claim for their fees, no action for negligence, however gross, can lie against them; and it is obvious that, if the power were accorded to them of recovering their fees at law, they would also be liable to action in case of negligence.

The greatest pains might be taken to secure isolation, the prisoners might be supervised and watched at every step, and made liable to punishment for a trifling breach of an irksome code of regulations, or they might herd together or communicate freely as in the old worst days.

In cold weather or on short dumps it must be done oftener; either to prevent freezing, or to make room for the unloading material which would otherwise pile up too high for easy spreading, or be liable to roll back on the track and obstruct it for the next train.

Salaried officers, too, may be exposed to insult, and even the loss of their situations, through the caprice of employers or superiors; whereas, a proprietor in the colonies, if he can draw a subsistence from his lands, and keep clear of debt, is scarcely liable to any vicissitude.

It warned the people under pain of severe penalty against molesting and persecuting foreigners, as they, the people, were too frequently liable to do from their ignorance of the state of affairs abroad and their misunderstanding of the motives of the foreigners who came to their respective districts.

The strength of the fortress had been increased since the previous siege, but the armament was indifferent, many of the guns being so honeycombed as to be liable to burst on the first fire, and at least a hundred of them were so destroyed during the coming siege.

The cord that bound the seventeen provinces together was so weak that it was liable to snap at any time, and it was therefore rather to foreign assistance than to their own unaided exertions that the leading men looked to rescue the land from Spanish tyranny.

These letters used to cover me with confusion and mortification before the grown-up people, as I kept it a secret that I ever played with dolls, knowing it to be thought rather eccentric, and liable to be misunderstood, especially when there were other boys about, which there were.

In determination of cases in which juries are more or less liable to be influenced by sympathy for the sufferers, he did not hesitate to adhere to those leading principles which have been consecrated by time and experience, in preference to yielding to impulses which might create a dangerous precedent.

With rare exceptions, all the felines are untrustworthy and more or less treacherous, and no matter how long they may have been trained, or how well their trainer may know them, they are liable at any moment, and without the least reason, to turn on him.

There were not wanting instances to prove that when the true Cowpox broke out among the cattle at a dairy, the person who had milked an infected animal, and had thereby gone through the disease in common with others, was liable to receive the Smallpox afterwards.

Behind some of the largest trees, two Indians stationed themselves, one standing, the other lying flat on the ground; and whenever a settler, knowing that the Indian opposed to him had fired, incautiously exposed himself to load, he was liable to be hit by the other.

And there was not only a resemblance, but a kind of specimen hereof, in the translation of Enoch and Elijah, whose bodies were before this, liable to corruption, and all other infirmities that attend this present life, but were made, in a moment, celestial and glorious.

In bright weather he did choose occasions for getting a little above these lower shadows; but, being at all times liable to be called by his electric bell and at such times listening for it with redoubled anxiety, the relief was less than I would suppose.

The mucous membrane of the urethra is of a highly sensitive nature, and more so in some parts than in others, as, for instance, in the membranous and bulbous portion of the canal; and hence it will be found, that those are the parts most liable to disease.

A woman who attempts to carry out any plans of system, order, and economy, and who has her feelings and habits conformed to certain rules, is constantly liable to have her plans crossed, and her taste violated, by the inexperience or inattention of those about her.

In its primitive form the ribs were formed of whalebone, which possessed very grave inconveniences; in the first place, it was cumbersome to a degree, lost its elasticity after any continuous exposure to rain, and if dried without very great care, was extremely liable to crack.

As raw silk, and raw cobwebs, when swallowed, are liable to produce great sickness (as I am informed) it is probable the part of muscles, which sometimes disagrees with the people who eat them, may be this silky web, by which they attach themselves to stones.

There is, however, one species of philosophy which seems little liable to this inconvenience, and that because it strikes in with no disorderly passion of the human mind, nor can mingle itself with any natural affection or propensity; and that is the Academic or Skeptical philosophy.

The player who takes more points than those to which he is entitled, either in play or in reckoning hand or crib, is liable to be "pegged;" that is, to be put back as many points as he has over-scored, and have the points added to his opponent's side.

One result of the mental attitude generated by the conditions indicated above is that any attempt to deal with subjects other than those which are authorized because they are customary, or tolerated because they are familiar, is liable to be greeted with cries of reproach and accusations of disloyalty.

Intoxicating liquors forfeited under the provisions of this act will be subject to sale under the same provisions of law as govern the sale of other goods that may have become liable to forfeiture, but will only be delivered for removal beyond the limits of the Territory.

Now, Emerson would certainly not have felt the soft shock and stimulus of delight to which he confesses himself to be liable at the first touch of certain phrases, had not the words in every case enclosed a promise of further truth and of a second pleasure.

There is the problem of evidence: the ability of a witness to observe and recount an incident, and the distortions to which such report is liable through errors of sense, confusion of inference with observation, weakness of judgment, prepossession, emotional interest, excitement, or an abnormal mental condition.

We find as a consequence that a great deal of his later poetry is much less attractive and much less artistically perfect than his earlier work, while just those failings to which his principles of poetic art rendered him liable become more and more frequent and prominent.

It must have been irritating that this interpolation "laughter" was liable to occur when Chesterton was most serious; he did not change quickly but in the alteration of his outlook towards his party, his growing doubt whether it stood for any real values, he was very serious.

Many injuries have happened from the use of belting, and the statutes in many cases have stated what must be done in the way of enclosing belts, and of putting screens around machinery, and in various ways of so protecting it that persons will be less liable to suffer.

So, in writing titles, whether for the catalog, or for a library order, or for the information of some inquirer, you are liable to make errors of date, or edition, or place of publication, or size, or to misplace or omit or substitute some word in the description of the book.

The right of the distillers to compensation was, however, so indisputable, and the retrospective action of the bill so liable to objection, that it was generally opposed; and, by the dissent of the lawyers, the treasurer, with all the non-official members, rejected by the council.

The three capital crimes upon which a man is liable to arrest is for being drunk, or disorderly, or for refusing to fight, and to these perils a young man is peculiarly susceptible and is, to that extent, interested in the Force, and critical of their behavior.

We should bear in mind that the action of a curb is peculiarly liable to produce insensibility of the mouth on account of its pressure being distributed almost completely round the lower jaw, while that of the snaffle falls only on the upper surface of the jaw.

Beth, with big dilated eyes and wet cheeks, saw him do both, and was oppressed to tears no more that day by delight and wonder of the beautiful; but she was always liable to these paroxysms, the outcome of an intensity of pleasure which was positive pain.

Under our statutes the owner or keeper of a dog is responsible to any person injured by him, either in person or property, double the amount of damage sustained; and after he has received notice of the bad disposition of his dog, he is liable to have the damage increased threefold.

It has been affirmed that, in the French army which invaded Russia, soldiers having a dark complexion, from the southern parts of Europe, withstood the intense cold better than those with lighter complexions from the north; but no doubt such statements are liable to error.

If the landlord chooses to indulge the tenant with a longer time to raise the money, a memorandum must be taken of the tenant, stating that possession is lengthened at his request, or the landlord will be liable to an action for exceeding the time of his original notice.

His cheerfulness, which had arisen from a high opinion of himself, had been confirmed by a constant flow of uninterrupted success; and that is a sort of cheerfulness which is very liable to be impaired, because it lies at the mercy of every accident and cross event in life.

The inshore squadron of the old days was liable to no attack which it could not parry if in sufficient force, and if too hardly pressed it could always fall back on the main blockading fleet, which was unassailable except by a corresponding force of the enemy.

The director of the industrial enterprise shall likewise be liable to a fine if the infringement has taken place with his knowledge, or if he has neglected to take the necessary care in providing for suitable inspection of the business, or in choosing and supervising the manager or overseers.

Those who understood him not, very naturally ascribed many of his novel proceedings to eccentricity, and these might be liable to run into this very usual extreme; but, for the most part, the apparent eccentricity was, in reality, a sound result of reflective, philosophical consideration.

For the same reason, as all the wealth of a nation is liable without exception to public expenditure for the defense of the sovereign and the nation, no property can be exempt from it but by force of law, which law is always revocable as circumstances vary.

Our opposition grows fainter in proportion as our adversary acquires new strength, and the man becomes enslaved by the most sordid vices, whose fall would, at a former period, have been deemed impossible, or who would have been imagined liable to any species of depravity, more than to this.

They are simple in construction, not liable to get out of order, permit the speed of the engine to be changed at will, are neat in appearance, noiseless, very durable, save the engineer's time, save fuel, and are at once the most powerful and most sensitive Governors ever made.

"The work is one of the best of its class, and the information it contains should be carefully studied by every mother who wishes to fully understand, and to be, as far as possible, equal to dealing with the diseases and ailments to which children are liable."

What Nature did, you had the evidence of your own eyes to vouch for, but what was done by Fortune, you know only from hearsay; and hearsay, I need not tell you, is liable to be influenced by ignorance or malice, and, therefore, is not to be depended on.

He admitted that no violation of any existing law was committed by the assumption as it had been made; and though the introduction of bulls from Rome was illegal, and liable to punishment, the statute had been so long in disuse, that a prosecution would undoubtedly fail.

On the other hand, people who never think of themselves as whole, healthy, active and robust, but who constantly hold in mind a picture of themselves as weak, ailing, without vim or stamina, with little or no disease-resisting power, are liable at any time to become victims of disease.

They forfeit by their malady the power to act in their own affairs; or their actions, if their mental disorder has been as far as possible concealed, are at any time during their life or after their death, liable to be called in question on the plea of insanity.

As might naturally be expected, both valleys are liable to inundation during the rainy season and, at the time of my visit, an attempt was being made to cut a tunnel behind the first range and induce the surplus waters to seek a nearer passage to the larger river.

To make things as safe as possible, however, we bought a good wagon and four first class mules; loaded up with Mexican and Navajo blankets and other goods believing that we would be less liable to get robbed of these goods than if we carried our money with us.

It is well known, that those snakes which have survived through the summer the accidents reptiles are liable to, periodically retire to the woods, at the approach of winter; where each (as curious observers have remarked) takes possession of the cavity it had occupied the preceding year.

As a consequence, the surface water is never near the top, but generally far down, and even continued irrigation would not be liable to raise it much higher, as the water will as rapidly drain off through the substrata, which generally consists of sandy soil and gravel.

This contract stipulated that the performance should be as complete and detailed as though given before a white audience, and that any member of the company failing to act his part in a satisfactory manner would render himself liable to become a target for bullets and arrows.

The failure of first reader and copyholder to detect wrong figures is a serious fault; confidence in them is immediately strained, the second readers become suspicious of all proofs read by them and feel compelled to reread entire proof by copy, and many far-reaching annoyances are liable to follow.

Steele was not always on good terms with her mother, and on one occasion that lady proposed to settle a portion of her property on Steele and his wife jointly, and to make the whole estate liable to a charge in his favor in case he outlived his wife without issue.

Again, instead of the tripping bar, which would sometimes have to be of great length or be liable to damage owing to stones jamming in its teeth, the shutter can be released by pulling the strut upstream so that it falls into a second groove, down which it slides.

The distance from the face of the grids to the ends of the beater blades should be carefully arranged to suit the class of cotton treated, as, if it is too great, the opening is not properly effected, and, if too little, the cotton is liable to be damaged.

A cicatrix, consisting only of condensed cellular tissue, must form upon the spot; this structure is very feebly, if at all, nervous, and when compared to the smooth and soft covering of the lips, may be said to be without feeling, and is very liable to ulceration.

The Act also imposed similar obligations and penalties on persons released from penal servitude, and, further, if it were proved that the convict was living dishonestly, he would be liable to be sent back to prison to undergo the remainder of his unexpired portion of penal servitude.

In this manner hour after hour passed, in listless quiet or sullen expectation, until the day had gradually advanced, and it became dangerous to keep the sentinels and picket in a situation where they were liable to be seen by any straggler who might be passing near the wood.

The Captain was now driven from the bosom of the mess to find a Camp Commandant, and to tell him, with the Major's compliments, that even the personnel of Army Brigades were liable, in the words of the book, to deteriorate rapidly if unprotected from damp.

The word village has many times appeared in our pages, and as it may prove ambiguous to a few of our readers and render them liable to confound its meaning with that of a fixed town, we will here stop and explain its signification when applied to Indians.

They shoot stronger and straighter than your light guns, are not so liable to get bent or bruised, if a stupid servant drops one across a stone; and, after all, two or three pounds difference in weight does not make any material difference, when you're accustomed to it.

The chances surely are that his right to possession would be exactly coextensive with his power to keep it, and that he would be constantly liable to disturbance by the first comer who coveted the spot and thought himself strong enough to drive away the possessor.

Coughing severely, or vomiting, a blow or fall, or a misstep leading to an effort to prevent falling, may, and does frequently, result in miscarriage; and this having once occurred, it is, without proper care, exceedingly liable to be the case again at the same period of a subsequent pregnancy.

The indolent tumors of the lymphatic glands are liable, after a long time, to regain their sensibility; and then, owing to their former torpor, an increased action of the vessels, beyond what is natural, with inflammation, is the consequence of their new life, and suppuration succeeds.

Fractures in general are liable to be produced by external force suddenly and violently applied, either directly to the part or at a distance, the force being transmitted through the stronger bones until it expends itself by breaking a weaker one remote from the seat of the injury.

The principle of moveable Types having been once introduced, little room was left for improvement, beyond the slight variations in the form of the Letters, which, as a matter of taste, would always be liable to fluctuate: a comparison of works, printed at different periods, will exemplify this.

Hares, compared to porcupines, are far more prolific, far more active, and with far more numerous foes; and they also seem to be much more liable to these epidemics, although this may be merely because they so much more quickly increase to the point that seems to invite the disease.

Furthermore, in a partnership each one of the partners is personally liable for any debts made by any of the partners in behalf of the business, whereas the personal possessions of a stockholder in a corporation cannot be held as security for any debts incurred by the corporation.

Such a regulation is at all events highly expedient, as all experience shows that even gold and silver coins are liable to be diminished in weight by wear and abrasion, even if it is not absolutely necessary in order to constitute the coins, if of full weight, a legal tender.

Mary and Maggie, too young to be of assistance, were quietly dressing up Granny's stick in a bit of tattered shawl and playing that it was a witch, at any moment liable to pounce on Granny and carry her off, the wish, perhaps, being father to the thought.

Most of the cereal and even the meadow grasses are liable to attacks of ergot, which is increased by cold damp fogs and a moist condition of the atmosphere, the difference of the size of the spur being in accordance with the size of the affected grass seed.