marginal

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Of, relating to, located at, or constituting a margin, a border, or an edge: the marginal strip of beach; a marginal issue that had no bearing on the election results.
2. adj. Being adjacent geographically: states marginal to Canada.
3. adj. Written or printed in the margin of a book: marginal notes.
4. adj. Barely within a lower standard or limit of quality: marginal writing ability; eked out a marginal existence.
5. adj. Economics Having to do with enterprises that produce goods or are capable of producing goods at a rate that barely covers production costs.
6. adj. Economics Relating to commodities thus manufactured and sold.
7. adj. Psychology Relating to or located at the fringe of consciousness.
8. n. One that is considered to be at a lower or outer limit, as of social acceptability: "is fascinated by marginals, by people who live on the edge of society” ( Dan Yakir).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Pertaining to a margin; situated on or near the margin; specifically, written or printed in the margin of a page: as, a marginal note or gloss.
2. n. One of the bones which form the border of the carapace in turtles, except in the Trionychoidea, in which they are lacking: same as marginal plate. See cut under carapace, 1.
3. n. In the ammonoid cephalopods, or ammonites, one of the small inflections which sometimes develop on the sides of the antisiphonal lobe of the sutures.
4. n. In conchology, one of the outermost teeth on the radula of gastropods; one of the uncini.
5. n. In asteroid echinoderms, one of the series of thick plates round the margin of the arms and disk.

Wiktionary

1. adj. of, relating to, or located at a margin or an edge
2. adj. geographically adjacent
3. adj. written in the margin of a book
4. adj. at the lower extent of a standard
5. adj. of land that is barely productive
6. adj. of an electoral district (such as a parliamentary constituency) where the winning margin was a small proportion of the total number of votes, so that only a small change in voting behaviour is necessary to alter the outcome of an election.
7. adj. of categories of people living on the social margin
8. n. Something that is marginal.
9. n. Especially a constituency with a small winning margin.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Of or pertaining to a margin.
2. adj. Written or printed in the margin.
3. adj. At the lower limit; barely sufficient.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. of questionable or minimal quality
2. adj. at or constituting a border or edge
3. adj. just barely adequate or within a lower limit
4. adj. producing at a rate that barely covers production costs