The most straightforward job of the shareholder is to provide funds. In practice, however, it isnât straightforward at all. Corporations do need capital to invest in growth, but they donât get it in aggregate from shareholders.
Noun. 1. understatement-a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said. statement-a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc; according to his statement he was in London on that day.
Definition of Understatement. An understatement is a literary device in which a writer or speaker attributes less importance or conveys less passion than the subject would seem to demand. Understatement is often used for comic effect. For example, Mark Twain states, A soiled baby, with a neglected nose, cannot be conscientiously regarded as a thing of beauty.. Understatement is also used to downplay the effect of facts, as when a totaled car is described as having a few dents.. A related term, litotes, conveys understatement through a negative construction.