Oxford Business English Dictionary for Learners of English

the quality or state of being steady and not changing in any way: There are doubts about the firm's financial stability, о measures to ensure stability in the oil market stable

economic/financial/price stability ♦ to create/give/ maintain/provide stability

Stabilize, -ise /'steibalaiz/ verb [+ obj or no obj] to become, or to make sth become, steady and unlikely to change: Demand seems to be stabilizing after the fall, о government measures to stabilize prices -> stable

stabilization, -isation /.steibalai'zeijn; AmE -ld'z-j noun [u]: stabilization in the job market

stable /'steibl/ adjective

firmly fixed; not likely to move, change or fail: Imports have dropped but exports have remained stable, о They promised better service and stable prices for the basic phone service. [synI steady

stably /'steibli/ adverbs stability, stabilize

Stack /staek/ noun, verb

• noun [C]

a pile of sth, usually neatly arranged: She keeps neat stacks of fashion magazines on her desk.

(informal) (especially BrE) a large number or amount of sth; a lot of sth: I lost a whole stack of files when my PC crashed, о I've got stacks of work to do.

(IT) a way of storing information in a computer in which the most recently stored item is the first to be retrieved (= found or got back)

verb

[+ obj or no obj] stack (sth) (up) to arrange objects neatly in a pile; to be arranged in this way: The boxes are stacked up in the warehouse, о These containers stack for easy transport.

[+ obj] to fill sth with piles of things: staff stacking shelves in the supermarkets shelf-

stacker

ШЯЭ ,stack 'up to keep increasing in quantity

stamp A on В | stamp В with A (often be stamped) to print letters, words, a design, etc. onto sth using a special tool: The box was stamped with the maker's name, о The envelope had 'Private' stamped on it.

(usually be stamped) to stick a stamp on a letter or package

'stamp duty (BrE) (AmE'stamp tax) noun [U] a tax that must be paid when land, buildings or shares are sold. A stamp is fixed to the legal document to show that the tax has been paid.

Stand /staend/ verb, noun

• adjective

average or normal rather than having special or unusual features: A standard letter was sent to all candidates, о Our standard terms and conditions apply to all our products, о All these PCs come with wireless keyboard and mouse as standard.

[usually before noun] following a particular standard that is set, for example, by an industry: standard sizes of clothes о I couldn't open the file as it wasn't in a standard format.

[only before noun] used by most people who are studying a particular subject: This has become the standard book on marketing.

-» non-standard

'Standard & 'Poor's '500 .index {alsospelled Standard and Poor's /.staendad an 'po:z; AmE

[C, usually sing.] the point at which sth begins: Things were looking bad at the start of the year, о The meeting got off to a good/bad start (= started well/badly).

[sing.] the act or process of beginning sth: We'd better make a start on these accounts.

[C, usually sing.] the opportunity that you are given to begin sth in a successful way: The job gave him his start in publishing.

[c, usually pi.] a business, project, etc. that has just begun: Last year there were a large number of see also: bank statement, completion financial income ~ mission ~ personal ~ profit and loss etc.

a printed record of money paid, received, etc: You will receive a customer statement at the end of each month, о My bank sends me monthly statements.

something that you say or write that gives information or an opinion: Some of the statements in the brochure are misleading.