cash

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈkash 

1

: ready money

2

: money or its equivalent (such as a check) paid for goods or services at the time of purchase or delivery

cash

2 of 4

adjective

: being a method of accounting that includes as income only what has been received and as expenses only those paid compare accrual

cash

3 of 4

verb

cashed; cashing; cashes

transitive verb

1

: to pay or obtain cash for

cash a check

2

: to lead and win a bridge trick with (a card that is the highest remaining card of its suit)

cashable

ˈka-shə-bəl 

adjective

cash

4 of 4

noun (2)

plural cash

1

: any of various coins of small value in China and southern India

especially : a Chinese coin with a square hole in the center

2

: a unit of value equivalent to one cash

Illustration of cash

• ⁴cash 1

Synonyms of cash

Noun (1)

• money
• coin
• currency

Examples of cash in a Sentence

Noun (1)

went to the ATM to get more cash

Verb

The store wouldn't cash the check.

He cashed his paycheck at the bank.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Beyond those three priorities, cash could be saved or paid out to UCSD, though a specific revenue split is not included in the document. —Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Dec. 2025

Leveraging her blog, social media and church, Amanda received more than $100,000 in monetary donations, including cash, gift cards, trips, freebies and other tokens for her lymphoma treatment, despite never being sick. —Jessica Sager, PEOPLE, 3 Dec. 2025

Adjective

Salary sacrifice currently allows workers to give up some of their earnings in exchange for a non-cash benefit, meaning it isn’t received as taxable pay and the employee pays less income tax and National Insurance. —Holly Ellyatt,chloe Taylor, CNBC, 26 Nov. 2025

Young also noted that non-cash donations, like donating clothing or other goods, will not qualify for the new tax deduction for non-itemizers. —Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 17 Nov. 2025

Verb

The second of those was behind the back to Nnaji, who cashed another 3-ball to finish up a productive night as Adelman’s ninth man. —Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 25 Nov. 2025

The platform also partners with retirement plan administrators and health insurance providers within the marketplace, allowing employees to convert points to cash to contribute to their retirement and health savings accounts. —Alexandra Kirkman, Fortune, 25 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

modification of Middle French or Old Italian; Middle French casse money box, from Old Italian cassa, from Latin capsa chest — more at case

Noun (2)

Portuguese caixa, from Tamil kācu, a small copper coin, from Sanskrit karṣa, a weight of gold or silver

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1913, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1811, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cash

• actual cash value
• cash-and-carry
• cash bar
• cash card
• cash cow
• cash crop
• cash desk
• cash discount
• cash dispenser
• cash flow
• cash grab
• cash in
• cash in on
• cash machine
• cash out
• cash register
• cash-strapped
• cold cash
• hard cash
• petty cash

Rhymes for cash

• ash
• bash
• brash
• cache
• clash
• crash
• dash
• flash
• gash
• hash
• lash
• mash

Kids Definition

cash

1 of 2 noun

ˈkash 

1

: money in the form of coins or bills

2

: money or its equivalent (as a check) paid for goods at the time of purchase or delivery

cash

2 of 2 verb

: to pay or obtain cash for

cash a check

Etymology

Noun

from early French casse or early Italian cassa, both meaning "money box," from Latin capsa "chest, box" — related to case entry 2

Legal Definition

cash

noun

1

: ready money

2

: money or its equivalent (as a check) paid for goods or services at the time of purchase or delivery