From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishearningsearn‧ings /ˈɜːnɪŋz $ ˈɜːr-/ ●●○ noun [plural] 1 BEWthe money that you receive for the work that you do → salary, pay an employee’s average weekly earnings He claimed compensation for loss of earnings.► see thesaurus at salary2 BBTthe profit that a company or country makes The company’s earnings have dropped by 5% in the first quarter. Oil provides 40% of Norway’s export earnings.COLLOCATIONS – Meanings 1 & 2ADJECTIVES/NOUN + earningsaverage earningsAverage earnings for teachers are around $70,000.hourly/weekly/monthly earningsSome football players have weekly earnings of over £50,000.high earningsProfessional people pay more tax, because of their higher earnings.low earningsa new government policy which is designed to help people on low earningsannual earningsHis annual earnings are over £1 million.future earnings (=money that a person or company is likely to earn in the future)With serious injuries, the court may award substantial damages for loss of future earnings.quarterly earnings (=the amount a company earns during a three-month period)The bank will announce its quarterly earnings on January 17.first/second etc quarter earnings (=the amount a company earns during one of the four periods of three months that make up a financial year)The company’s fourth quarter earnings are excellent.gross earnings (=before tax has been paid)You can usually borrow up to three times the value of your gross earnings per year.net earnings (=after tax has been paid)The company’s net earnings have fallen over the last two years.export earnings (=money a company earns by exporting goods or services)Export earnings from oil bring valuable overseas currency into the country.verbsearnings rise/increaseAverage earnings increased by 5 per cent last year.earnings fall (=become lower)The company’s earnings fell by 21% in the fourth quarter.report earnings (=publicly state the amount of money a company has earned during a particular period)Many car manufacturers have reported disappointing earnings this year.phraseslevel of earnings (=the amount a person or company earns)He found he was having to work harder just to maintain his level of earnings.loss of earningsThe insurance policy covers you for loss of earnings due to illness.growth in earnings (=an increase in the amount a person or company earns)The first part of this year has seen a substantial growth in earnings.
Examples from the Corpus
earnings• It said, however, that it would maintain its 2001 earnings target of $ 2.80 to $ 2.90 a share.• Average earnings rose just 3 cents an hour.• Company earnings are up 18% over last year's.• He expects stocks to continue to march higher, benefiting from falling rates and decent corporate earnings.• Development Inc. and Parametric Technology Corp., after both companies reported better-than-expected earnings.• The planned repurchase would result in an extraordinary charge of about $ 22 million against first-quarter earnings, the company said.• The crucial factors are the relative opportunity costs and the ratio of men's to women's earnings.• The average worker's earnings have not kept up with inflation.• Most single mothers spend a large part of their earnings on childcare.• Most occupational schemes pay a proportion of your earnings when you retire and are called final earnings schemes.loss of earnings• Cost is used here in its widest sense involving payment of fees, loss of earnings, loss of time and so on.• Parties and witnesses are entitled to allowances for loss of earnings, subsistence and travel to and from the tribunal.• There were very large claims from members of the Territorial Army for loss of earnings and most of them were met in full.• Social security payments are unlikely to be adequate compensation for loss of earnings and injuries.• Responsibility for loss of earnings and production, due to inclement weather for example, will rest with the sub-contractor.• After abandoning an appeal against the decision, Barclays agreed to reinstate the women and compensate them for loss of earnings.• If you don't do it, then it's a day's loss of earnings.• Later more imaginative tactics were adopted to try to achieve maximum disruption for a small loss of earnings.export earnings• The generally depressed commodity prices did not, however, markedly affect export earnings.• The compensatory financing was designed to give temporary support to countries facing short-term fluctuations in export earnings, predominantly primary producing nations.• This increase in export earnings will stimulate the domestic economy.• Over 90 percent of export earnings comes from oil.From Longman Business Dictionaryearningsearn‧ings /ˈɜːnɪŋzˈɜːr-/ noun [plural]1FINANCEthe money that a person receives for the work they do in a particular period of timeHe always thought he’d be satisfied even if his earnings didn’t reach $20,000 a year.the gap between the gross earnings (=income before tax) of manual and non-manual workers2ECONOMICSthe total amount that people receive for the work they do in a particular industry or economy in a particular period of timeThis month’s figures on inflation, industrial production, average earnings (=the average amount that people earn) and unemployment are expected to show continuing economic weakness.3FINANCEACCOUNTINGthe profit that a company makes in a particular period of time, or the total profits that companies make in a particular industry or economy in a particular period of timeBritish Airways counts on North Atlantic flights for about half its earnings.This year, the steel industry’s earnings should be higher with the completion of costly modernization programs.Few can match Quality’s earnings growth of 40% per year over the past five years.4buy earnings growthFINANCE an investor buys earnings growth by buying shares that are quite cheap in relation to the amount of profit the company made in the previous year, hoping that the value of the shares will increaseThe company could buy earnings growth for its shareholders by buying ports overseas with its excess capital. → see also PE ratio 