sliding scale

Tweet

noun

: a system in which the amount that people are required to pay in fees, taxes, etc., changes according to different situations or conditions

Full Definition of SLIDING SCALE

1

:  a wage scale geared to the selling price of the product or to the consumer price index but usually guaranteeing a minimum below which the wage will not fall

2

a :  a system for raising or lowering tariffs in accord with price changes

b :  a flexible scale (as of fees or subsidies) adjusted to the needs or income of individuals <the sliding scale of medical fees>

Yum! 10 food words worth savoring »

First Known Use of SLIDING SCALE

1842

Rhymes with SLIDING SCALE

abigail, altar rail, armored scale, audit trail, aventail, beavertail, bristletail, button quail, clapper rail, coffin nail, Corriedale, cottontail, countervail, Coverdale, direct mail, disentail, draggle-tail, fairy tale, farthingale, fingernail, forestaysail, gaff-topsail, galingale, garage sale, ginger ale, Holy Grail, humpback whale, Irish mail, killer whale, macroscale, martingale, microscale, monorail, montadale, nanoscale, nightingale, Nightingale, old wives' tale, overscale, paper trail, pilot whale, ponytail, purple scale, romeldale, rummage sale, solar sail, studding sail, Sunnyvale, swallowtail, tattletale, tooth and nail, tripletail, trundle-tail, vapor trail, yellowtail