margin

/ˈmɑːrdʒɪn/
noun
  1. The blank space around the edges of a page of writing or printing.
    • She scribbled notes in the margin of her textbook.
    • The teacher asked students to write their names in the top margin.
    • Please leave a one-inch margin on both sides of your essay.
  2. An amount or degree of difference, especially in a competition or measurement.
    • Our team lost by a wide margin, so we need to practice more.
    • The margin of error in this survey is plus or minus three percent.
    • The candidate won the election by a narrow margin of only 200 votes.
  3. The difference between the cost of a product or service and its selling price; profit margin.
    • The company operates on a very thin margin, so every sale matters.
    • A high margin product brings in more profit per unit sold.
    • They increased their margin by cutting production costs.
  4. An extra amount of something, such as time or space, allowed for safety or flexibility.
    • The schedule has no margin for delays.
    • We built a margin of safety into the bridge design.
    • Leave a margin of ten minutes in case of traffic.
Antonyms
verb
  1. To provide with a margin or border.
    • They margined the garden path with small stones.
    • The document is margined according to the style guide.
    • The designer margined the page with a decorative line.
  2. To deposit money with a broker as security against potential losses when buying securities on credit.
    • He margined his account to buy more shares.
    • If the stock price falls, you may need to margin more money.
    • The broker asked her to margin the trade with additional funds.
What does "margin" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean