future
adjective
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Definition of future
(Entry 1 of 2)
future
nounDefinition of future (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for future
Synonyms: Adjective
Synonyms: Noun
by-and-by, futurity, hereafter, offing, tomorrow
Antonyms: Adjective
Antonyms: Noun
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Examples of future in a Sentence
Adjective
We cannot predict future events. Future generations will benefit from this research.Noun
We're making plans for the future. They will hire more people sometime in the future. What do you think you will be doing in the future? What does the future hold for you? It's impossible to predict the future. The company faces an uncertain future. The future was already decided for her.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
The scientists hope to learn about the effects of long-term zero-gravity life to help future astronauts stay safe and healthy on extended journeys into space. — Michele Petry, House Beautiful, "NASA Wants to Pay You to Stay in Bed All Day," 29 Mar. 2019 Maybe my kids and future grandchildren will be spared — because one medical weenie decided to help. — Paula Spencer Scott, Woman's Day, "I Participated in a Clinical Study to See if I Had Dementia — Here's What I Learned," 26 Mar. 2019 Downgrades often result in higher financing costs, which in turn could reduce the appetite for future bond sales. — Nina Trentmann, WSJ, "Heathrow Sells Debt to Allay Concerns Over Brexit," 6 Mar. 2019 Lawyers for NBCUniversal, who did not respond to Ars' request for comment, said that what Rigmaiden has primarily asked for—to halt future sales of the episode—is unconstitutional. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "Convicted tax fraudster sues CNBC for defamation, says he’s not a “hacker”," 19 Nov. 2018 O'Rourke, his future wife Amy, and her father William D. Sanders were all members of the invitation-only group for a time. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "Why Beto O'Rourke's Wife, Amy O'Rourke, Will Be Central to His Presidential Campaign," 15 Mar. 2019 The withdrawal agreement, which is required before more wide-ranging discussions on future relations can commence, foresees relatively close economic ties with Europe. — Lorne Cook, The Seattle Times, "UK Parliament moves to make ‘no-deal’ Brexit more difficult," 8 Jan. 2019 According to Hello!, Princess Diana left all of her jewelry to her two sons with the intention of having their future wives wear them one day. — Ana Colón, Glamour, "Meghan Markle Wore Princess Diana's Jewelry During Her Royal Tour of Australia," 16 Oct. 2018 In fact, none of the current Olympic sports are guaranteed a spot in future Games. — Jenny Mccoy, SELF, "These Are the New Sports We May See at the 2024 Summer Olympics," 27 Feb. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
While questions loom about both franchises’ future given the National Hockey League expansion team’s pending October 2021 debut, the Silvertips and Thunderbirds spent the season solidifying recent off-ice gains made during their playoff runs. — Geoff Baker, The Seattle Times, "With NHL’s arrival looming, Seattle Thunderbirds, Everett Silvertips in local junior hockey golden era," 10 Apr. 2019 But even our favorite leading lady and future talk show host can slip up from time to time. — Megan Stein, Country Living, "‘The Voice’ Coach Kelly Clarkson Made a Big Mistake and Fans Are Calling Her Out for It," 9 Apr. 2019 Rather, the National Museum is a triumphant monument, an encapsulation, and a seminar on Qatar’s past, present, and future. — Julie Lasky, ELLE Decor, "ED First Look: The National Museum of Qatar," 26 Mar. 2019 The planet of love, Venus, also enters Aries on Saturday, April 20, encouraging you to strengthen your connection with others through interdependent intimacy, grounded in your idealistic vision for the future. — Randon Rosenbohm, Allure, "What April’s Virgo Horoscope Means for You," 31 Mar. 2019 Now, with Wow disbanded and other discount carriers like Norwegian Airlines facing a similarly precarious financial future, Iceland's tourism industry could face a blow. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Discount Airline 'Wow' Shuts Down Out of Nowhere, Stranding Thousands of Passengers," 28 Mar. 2019 With warmer weather around the corner, why not fantasize about all of the fruit salads you are destined to eat (and wear!) in the near future? — Sophie Kemp, Vogue, "A Funky Fruit Print Is a Fresh Alternative to Spring Florals," 12 Mar. 2019 To be amongst all of you progressive, motivated, open minded, change-makers, is what gives me hope for the future. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Prince Harry Just Gave a Powerful Speech at This Year's WE Day," 6 Mar. 2019 Larson said there will be more information in the near future about what the plans are for the encampment. — The (aberdeen) Daily World, The Seattle Times, "Federal judge grants settlement for homeless advocates in lawsuit against Aberdeen," 20 Feb. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'future.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
30 Ways to Tell the Future
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Statistics for future
Last Updated
2 Apr 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for future
The first known use of future was in the 14th century
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More Definitions for future
future
nounFinancial Definition of future
What It Is
Futures are financial contracts giving the buyer an obligation to purchase an asset (and the seller an obligation to sell an asset) at a set price at a future point in time.
How It Works
Futures are also called futures contracts.
The assets often traded in futures contracts include commodities, stocks, and bonds. Grain, precious metals, electricity, oil, beef, orange juice, and natural gas are traditional examples of commodities, but foreign currencies, emissions credits, bandwidth, and certain financial instruments are also part of today's commodity markets.
There are two kinds of futures traders: hedgers and speculators. Hedgers do not usually seek a profit by trading commodities ev but rather seek to stabilize the revenues or costs of their business operations. Their gains or losses are usually offset to some degree by a corresponding loss or gain in the market for the underlying physical commodity.
Speculators are usually not interested in taking possession of the underlying assets. They essentially place bets on the future prices of certain commodities. Thus, if you disagree with the consensus that wheat prices are going to fall, you might buy a futures contract. If your prediction is right and wheat prices increase, you could make money by selling the futures contract (which is now worth a lot more) before it expires (this prevents you from having to take delivery of the wheat as well). Speculators are often blamed for big price swings, but they also provide liquidity to the futures market.
Futures contracts are standardized, meaning that they specify the underlying commodity's quality, quantity, and delivery so that the prices mean the same thing to everyone in the market. For example, each kind of crude oil (light sweet crude, for example) must meet the same quality specifications so that light sweet crude from one producer is no different from another and the buyer of light sweet crude futures knows exactly what he's getting.
Futures exchanges depend on clearing members to manage the payments between buyer and seller. They are usually large banks and financial services companies. Clearing members guarantee each trade and thus require traders to make good-faith deposits (called margins) in order to ensure that the trader has sufficient funds to handle potential losses and will not default on the trade. The risk borne by clearing members lends further support to the strict quality, quantity, and delivery specifications of futures contracts.
Regulation
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates commodities futures trading through its enforcement of the Commodity Exchange Act of 1974 and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. The CFTC works to ensure the competitiveness, efficiency, and integrity of the commodities futures markets and protects against manipulation, abusive trading, and fraud.
Futures Exchanges
There are several futures exchanges. Common ones include The New York Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange, the Kansas City Board of Trade, and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.
Why It Matters
Futures are a great way for companies involved in the commodities industries to stabilize their prices and thus their operations and financial performance. Futures give them the ability to "set" prices or costs well in advance, which in turn allows them to plan better, smooth out cash flows, and communicate with shareholders more confidently.
Futures trading is a zero-sum game; that is, if somebody makes a million dollars, somebody else loses a million dollars. Because futures contracts can be purchased on margin, meaning that the investor can buy a contract with a partial loan from his or her broker, futures traders have an incredible amount of leverage with which to trade thousands or millions of dollars worth of contracts with very little of their own money.
Source: Investing Answers
future
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of future
(Entry 1 of 2)
future
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of future (Entry 2 of 2)
See the full definition for future in the English Language Learners Dictionary
future
adjective
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Kids Definition of future
(Entry 1 of 2)
future
nounKids Definition of future (Entry 2 of 2)
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future
nounLegal Definition of future
Note: If the price of the commodity has gone up when the future date arrives, the buyer in the contract profits. If the price has gone down, the seller profits.
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