deposit

Pluraldeposits

Formsdeposits, depositing, deposited

1. 1
   nouncountable

   Money transferred into an account at a bank, where it can be kept safe or earn interest.

   The bank credited her account once the deposit cleared.

   Interest accrues on every deposit held in the savings account.

   Oppositewithdrawal

   Note

   The banker's noun, partner to the verb of paying money in. Unlike a down payment, this money still belongs to the person who placed it. The bank holds it, credits the account and may pay interest on it. A deposit is said to clear once the bank has processed it and the funds can be used.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   Money or other property that reserves something for purchase, shows good faith, or forms an initial payment.

   She paid a ten percent deposit to secure the house.

   The seller kept the deposit when the buyer backed out of the sale.

   Note

   Two near-synonyms divide the work: down payment stresses the first installment of a price, and earnest money stresses the show of good faith. The usual construction is put down a deposit on something, as in putting one down on an apartment. Unlike the refundable bottle-style deposit, this one is not simply handed back, and a buyer who backs out may lose it.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To pay a sum into a bank or other account, adding it to the balance held there.

   She deposited her bonus into a separate savings account.

   You can deposit cash at any branch of the bank.

   Similarbank, put, pay, lodge

   Oppositewithdraw

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A sum of money given as security for a borrowed item, returned when the item is given back.

   Each glass bottle carries a five-cent deposit refunded at the store.

   The rental company refunded the deposit after we returned the undamaged tools.

   Similarsecurity, bond

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A trace or layer of material left behind on a surface.

   A chalky deposit had built up around the faucet over the years.

   The flood left a thick deposit of mud across the floor.

   Similarresidue, layer, coating, film, sediment

   Note

   The everyday sense, with no science required: seaweed on a shore, jam on a countertop, scale around a faucet. A mineral deposit can belong here or to the geologist's sense, and the setting decides. A chalky crust in a kettle is this sense; a seam of ore underground is the other.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A body of sediment or rock that was brought from elsewhere or differs from its surroundings, including an accumulation of ore or gems.

   Geologists surveyed a large mineral deposit beneath the valley.

   Wind-blown deposits of fine silt covered the high plateau.

   Similaraccumulation, layer, bed

   Note

   Here the Latin root is easiest to see. Deposit is a learned borrowing of depositus, "put down," and geology uses it for material that some process has put down away from where it originated. It usually comes with a word naming the substance: oil and gas deposits, a mineral deposit, an ore deposit. The same Latin word also gave English depot.

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To lay something down or place it somewhere.

   The waves deposit driftwood along the shoreline each winter.

   She deposited the sleeping baby gently in the crib.

   Similarplace, put, lay, set, leave

   Oppositeremove, lift

   Note

   The verb closest to the Latin "put down," and often used with something other than a person as its subject: a crocodile deposits her eggs, waters deposit alluvium, a locomotive's fire deposits ashes on the track. It is the action behind the geologist's noun. Jeremy Taylor's Ductor Dubitantium (1660) shows the figurative turn, with a fear deposited in conscience and laid there to stay.

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To lay something up or away and store it for safekeeping.

   Squirrels deposit nuts in hidden spots to survive the cold months.

   He deposited the rare books in a climate-controlled vault.

   Similarstore, stash, cache, hoard, stow

   Oppositeretrieve, withdraw, remove

9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To put one's money or other property in another's care, with the assets sometimes serving as collateral.

   Investors deposit their funds with the firm to manage on their behalf.

   She deposited the deed with the lender as collateral for the loan.

   Similarentrust, lodge, place, consign, leave

   Oppositewithdraw, retrieve, reclaim

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A place where goods are stored or kept; a depository.

    The town's main deposit held records dating back centuries.

    Merchants stored their goods in a riverside deposit near the docks.

    Similarrepository, depot, storehouse, warehouse, store

11. 11
    nouncountable

    The handing over of personal property to someone who keeps it free of charge for the owner's benefit and without gain to the keeper, as for storage, carriage, or repair.

    The judge ruled the arrangement a deposit, because the custodian received no benefit for holding the property.

    Under the old code, a deposit obliged the keeper to return the goods undamaged on demand.

    Note

    A lawyer's term with a narrow edge: what sets this bailment apart is that the keeper gains nothing from the arrangement. The two parties are the depositor, who hands the goods over, and the depositary, who keeps them. Do not confuse depositary, a person, with depository, which names a place of storage. The spellings differ by one vowel, and the roles differ entirely.

12. 12
    verbtransitive

    To lay something aside or rid oneself of it.

    Travelers deposit their cares the moment they reach the quiet shore.

    He deposited all pretense and spoke plainly to the crowd.

    Similarshed, drop, discard, abandon, jettison

    Oppositeadopt, assume, retain

    Note

    The sense of putting something off rather than putting it somewhere, as one puts down a burden. Henry Hammond's Of Schism (1654) asks a man to "reform and deposit his error," meaning to lay it aside for good. A modern reader who expects the storage meanings can easily misread such a line, so the context has to carry this sense.

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