cash
Pluralcashes (some meanings), cash (some meanings)
Pluralcashes (some meanings), cash (some meanings)
- 1Money in the form of paper bills and coins, not checks or cards.
Like the coins and bills you can hold in your hand, not a number on a screen.
She always keeps some cash in her wallet for small purchases.
The market only takes cash, not cards.
UsageSay pay in cash or pay cash.
Oppositecredit
- 2
- 3Money you can use right away, not money tied up in things you own.
Like money in your pocket you can spend now, instead of a toy you'd have to sell first.
The company kept enough cash to pay its workers each week.
We need cash on hand for emergencies, not just savings in stocks.
UsageSay a company holds cash or has cash on hand.
Similarfunds, liquidity, capital
Note
Less common meanings
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7A box or place where money is kept, paid out, and taken in.
She was said to have amassed a great sum of money for ill use ; 20,000l. are known to be in her cash ;
1852, Theresa Lewis, quoting a letter from John More to Ralph WinwoodHere, cash means a box or place where money is kept.Note
- 8
- 9A small coin of low value once used in China, India, and other parts of Asia.
He paid the vendor a single cash for the bowl of rice.
She kept a long string of cash tied at her waist.
Note
- 10A time when you win money as a prize.
- 11To win money by finishing high enough in a contest.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of cash apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origins
It came from a French word 'caisse' meaning 'money-box'. This came from Latin 'capsa' meaning 'box'.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Cash came from French caisse, meaning 'money-box'. en.wiktionary.org
- Caisse ultimately came from Latin capsa, meaning 'box'. en.wiktionary.org
It came from the Tamil word 'kācu', which came from Sanskrit 'karsha', a unit of weight. It was used for small coins in Asia.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Cash, in the historical coin sense, came from Tamil kācu. en.wiktionary.org
- Tamil kācu ultimately came from Sanskrit karsha. en.wiktionary.org
- Sanskrit karsha denoted a unit of weight. en.wikipedia.org
- Cash was used for small coins in Asia. en.wiktionary.org
Linked to cashier, which means to throw someone out of a job, from an old French word for "to break."