collateral

Universal Words noun, adjective noun [U] (finance) property or sth valuable that you promise to give to sb if you cannot pay back money that you borrow: We had put our house up as collateral for our bank loan. adjective (formal) 1 connected with sth else, but in addition to it and less important: collateral benefits * an independent contract collateral to the main contract * The government denied that there had been any collateral damage (= injury to ordinary people or buildings) during the bombing raid. 2 (technical) (of people) in the same family, but not closely related