loan shark
21
4.8
- noun
- /loʊn ʃɑrk/
:
usurero
- After borrowing money from a loan shark, he found himself trapped in a cycle of debt.
- pay the loan shark
- debt to a loan shark
- borrow from a loan shark
Examples
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Many people turn to a loan shark when they cannot get a loan from a bank.
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He was a loan shark for the mob, so I wouldn't feel too bad.
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So it's on him to pay back the loan shark.
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Never met a woman loan shark before.
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Maybe that loan shark of yours will take less.
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These guys are loan sharks.
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You have to understand that loan sharks are in business the same as anybody else.
Fiction book (1995) -
Did you borrow from a loan shark?
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And that way, he could pay off the loan sharks that were chasing his father down.
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She borrowed the money from what we would call a loan shark, Melissa.
Synonyms
3
6.1
A person or company that gives money and charges very high interest
2
9.9
A person who lends money and charges very high interest
How Predatory
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'a predatory lender' follows from combining 'loan' (lending money) with 'shark' used metaphorically for a predator, so the meaning is inferable but relies on recognizing the figurative use of 'shark' rather than a strictly compositional, literal reading. Because the relation is metaphorical and requires that extra cultural/figurative knowledge, it is not fully predictable for all B1 learners without exposure.
Etymology
Loan shark paints a clear picture by joining loan (money lent) with shark (a dangerous animal that attacks its prey). That image shows a lender who pressures or scares borrowers and charges very high and often illegal interest, so loan shark means 'a person who lends money at very high and often illegal interest rates'.