capital (capitals plural )
1 n-uncount Capital is a large sum of money which you use to start a business, or which you invest in order to make more money. (BUSINESS)
Companies are having difficulty in raising capital..., A large amount of capital is invested in all these branches.
2 n-uncount You can use capital to refer to buildings or machinery which are necessary to produce goods or to make companies more efficient, but which do not make money directly. (BUSINESS) usu N n
...capital equipment that could have served to increase production., ...capital investment.
3 n-uncount Capital is the part of an amount of money borrowed or invested which does not include interest. (BUSINESS)
With a conventional repayment mortgage, the repayments consist of both capital and interest.
4 n-count The capital of a country is the city or town where its government or parliament meets.
usu the N in sing, oft N of n
...Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
5 n-count If a place is thecapitalof a particular industry or activity, it is the place that is most famous for it, because it happens in that place more than anywhere else.
usu the N in sing, with supp
Colmar has long been considered the capital of the wine trade., ...New York, the fashion capital of the world.
6 n-count Capitals or capital letters are written or printed letters in the form which is used at the beginning of sentences or names. `T', `B', and `F' are capitals.
The name and address are written in capitals.
7 adj A capital offence is one that is so serious that the person who commits it can be punished by death.
ADJ n
Espionage is a capital offence in this country., ...Americans wrongly convicted of capital crimes.
9 If you say that someone is making capital out of a situation, you disapprove of the way they are gaining an advantage for themselves through other people's efforts or bad luck. FORMAL
make capital of sth/make capital out of sth phrase V inflects, PHR n (disapproval)
He rebuked the President for trying to make political capital out of the hostage situation.
capital account (capital accounts plural )
1 n-count A country's capital account is the part of its balance of payments that is concerned with the movement of capital.
2 n-count A capital account is a financial statement showing the capital value of a company on a particular date. (BUSINESS)
capital gains
Capital gains are the profits that you make when you buy something and then sell it again at a higher price. (BUSINESS) n-plural
He called for the reform of capital gains tax.
capital goods
Capital goods are used to make other products. Compare consumer goods. (BUSINESS) n-plural
capital inflow (capital inflows plural )In economics, capital inflow is the amount of capital coming into a country, for example in the form of foreign investment. (BUSINESS) n-var
...a large drop in the capital inflow into America.
capital-intensive
Capital-intensive industries and businesses need the investment of large sums of money. Compare labour-intensive. (BUSINESS) adj
capital letter (capital letters plural )Capital letters are the same as capitals. n-count
capital punishment
Capital punishment is punishment which involves the legal killing of a person who has committed a serious crime such as murder. n-uncount
Most democracies have abolished capital punishment.
emotional capital
When people refer to the emotional capital of a company, they mean all the psychological assets and resources of the company, such as how the employees feel about the company. (BUSINESS) n-uncount
UK organisations are not nourishing their intellectual and emotional capital.
flight of capital
When people lose confidence in a particular economy or market and withdraw their investment from it, you can refer to a flight of capital from that economy or market. (BUSINESS) n-sing
TI has seen its shares suffer because of a flight of capital to telecom and Internet-related businesses...
seed capital
Seed capital is an amount of money that a new company needs to pay for the costs of producing a business plan so that they can raise further capital to develop the company. (BUSINESS) n-uncount
I am negotiating with financiers to raise seed capital for my latest venture.
share capital
A company's share capital is the money that shareholders invest in order to start or expand the business. (BUSINESS) n-uncount
The bank has a share capital of almost 100 million dollars.
venture capital
Venture capital is capital that is invested in projects that have a high risk of failure, but that will bring large profits if they are successful. (BUSINESS) n-uncount
working capital
Working capital is money which is available for use immediately, rather than money which is invested in land or equipment. (BUSINESS) n-uncount
