clawback

See also: claw back

English

Etymology

claw +‎ back. In the financial senses, refers to something being "clawed back", or reclaimed; in the sense of a flatterer, it suggests the idea of a person's back being scratched (see scratch someone's back).

Noun

clawback (countable and uncountable, plural clawbacks)

1. (US law of evidence) A rule that permits a party to take back evidentiary materials that were mistakenly turned over to the other party but to which the other party would not have been entitled.
2. (US taxation law) Money that a party is entitled to keep under one tax provision but is taken by another tax provision.
3. (US, business) Any recovery of a performance-related payment based on discovery that the performance was not genuine.

   The airline got a clawback provision in the event of failure of the engines to meet fuel-consumption targets.

4. (obsolete) A flatterer or sycophant.
   • Latimer

     Take heed of these clawbacks.

Synonyms

• (business: recovery of performance payment): malus

Coordinate terms

• disgorgement