Definition of "marginal"

(not comparable) Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge).

1. Written in the margin of a book.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The early pages had marginal notes most of which were lost when rats nibbled away the manuscript edges.

     1999, R. I. Page, Introduction to English Runes, Boydell Press, page 198

2. (geography) Sharing a border; geographically adjacent.  examples

(comparable) Determined by a small margin; having a salient characteristic determined by a small margin.

1. Of a value, or having a characteristic that is of a value, that is close to being unacceptable or leading to exclusion from a group or category.  examples

2. (of land) Barely productive.  examples

3. (politics, chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, of a constituency) Subject to a change in sitting member with only a small change in voting behaviour, this usually being inferred from the small winning margin of the previous election.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • In ‘battleground’ seats with the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat vote shares increased most in the most marginal seats.

     2002, Andrew Geddes, Jonathan Tonge, Labour′s Second Landslide: The British General Election 2001, page 79

   • In Outer London, Harrow East is now a more marginal Labour hold than Harrow West.

     2007, Robert Waller, Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics, page 58

   • The pendulum lists the seats from least marginal to most marginal for the government on one side, and least marginal to most marginal for the opposition on the other side.

     2010, Nick Economou, Zareh Ghazarian, Australian Politics For Dummies, unnumbered page

   • He justified his comment by noting that the Labour Party had quickly committed to delivering a high-speed Leeds-Manchester line, and argued that pressure would grow on the Government because there were several marginal parliamentary seats around Leeds and Bradford.

     2021 December 1, “Network News: Integrated Rail Plan: Osborne predicts HS2 eastern leg will return”, in RAIL, number 945, page 8

(economics, not comparable) Pertaining to changes resulting from a unit increase in production or consumption of a good.  examples

Something or somebody that is marginal.  quotations  examples

(politics) A constituency won with a small margin.  examples