debt ceiling
42
5.3
- noun
- /dɛt ˈsiːlɪŋ/
- Formal
:
techo de deuda
- We'll extend the debt ceiling just one more year.
We'll extend the debt ceiling just one more year.
- We'll extend the debt ceiling just one more year.
- Democrats seek unlikely debt ceiling savior from the Hill, Mitch McConnell.
- And then it wouldn't need to, you know, like raise the debt ceiling 'cause it now has the money.
- OK, so the coin argument has been around since the Obama administration's debt ceiling fights.
- That's why he's so adamant in his big, beautiful bill to lift the debt ceiling.
- So now I'm seeing this constant talk about, but maybe the debt ceiling isn't the issue, but it's it's liquidity.
- You have the, the deficit growing, you have the debt ceiling pushed higher, all the reasons for that.
- You were talking about the, you know, this crisis with the debt ceiling and the possibility of periodic reenactments.
- They they go in, there's this hilarious joke called the debt ceiling where where Congress says this is all the debt by law we can go into.
Examples
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So there's the recent debt ceiling showdown that was a near miss.
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I think it may be better to raise the debt ceiling next year rather than now.
Blog text (6) -
We check the effectiveness of debt ceiling mechanisms.
Academic text (2018) -
In this section, we examine whether introducing a debt ceiling can effectively limit public debt.
Academic text (2018) -
The slight plateau in 2010 was caused both by the debt ceiling crisis and the European Financial Crisis.
Blog text (1) -
The Treasury can pause reinvestments for now, and these funds would be made whole after the debt ceiling situation is resolved.
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Washington spent most of the summer of 2011 gripped by the debt-ceiling showdown.
Academic text (2011) -
We've averted catastrophe because earlier today Senate leaders agreed to a short term debt ceiling increase.
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Congress approved a new budget, but they still have to address the debt ceiling to prevent a government shutdown.
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Raising the debt ceiling will allow the government to borrow more money to fund essential services.
Synonyms
258
3.3
A maximum limit on money or people allowed
110
3.7
An upper limit on the amount or number allowed
18
3.9
The maximum amount a government can borrow by law
1
6.6
An official limit on how much money a government can borrow
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'maximum amount a government is allowed to borrow' is directly and transparently built from 'debt' (money owed) plus 'ceiling' (an upper limit or cap). The metaphoric use of 'ceiling' as a limit is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard noun+noun compositional pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Debt ceiling uses a clear image: debt is the money a government owes and a ceiling is a roof that stops things going higher. So one popular picture is a roof over the government's debt that sets a limit on how much it can 'borrow' — the legal 'maximum' allowed.