ledger

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noun led·ger \ ˈle-jər \

Definition of ledger

1 :a book containing accounts to which debits and credits are posted from books of original entry

2 :a horizontal board used for vertical support (as in scaffolding)

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Recent Examples of ledger from the Web

On the flip side of the ledger, 5.4 million owners (9.5 percent of the total) are in serious negative equity positions, owing at least 25 percent more on their mortgages than their homes could command in the marketplace.

— kenneth r. harney, miamiherald, "Which U.S. neighborhood has homeowners with the most equity? Answer may surprise you," 22 Aug. 2017
A hotel ledger signed by Swayze hangs on the wall; his room, 232, begins booking out a year in advance.

— katie calautti, HWD, "At the Dirty Dancing Lodge, Fans Can Have the Time of Their Lives," 18 Aug. 2017
But even setting aside the public-messaging side of the ledger, should citizens have faith in Trump’s decision-making process?

— david a. graham, The Atlantic, "Why Trump Is Wholly Unsuited to the North Korea Crisis," 8 Aug. 2017
Old Jim sits in the general store, scritching in his ledger.

— Longreads, "And How Much of These Hills Is Gold," 3 Aug. 2017
Through a combination of the ruling Al Thani family or wealthy Qatari financiers, the oil-rich state backs al-Qaeda affiliates, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Taliban, Hamas, and others on the Sunni side of the ledger.

— matthew rj brodsky, National Review, "Qatar’s Dirty Hands," 3 Aug. 2017
So the tax cuts aren’t going to be offset on the revenue side of the ledger.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "The GOP Health Care Bill Was a Mess. The GOP’s Tax Plans Are Messier.," 2 Aug. 2017
Think of it as a type of public ledger — when someone uses bitcoins to buy something, the blockchain records the transaction one after the other in blocks of code, each chained to the other.

— sonia zhuravlyova, MSNBC Newsweek, "The Future of Money: Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrency Technologies Are a Way of Life in This Small Swiss Town," 11 July 2017
In the meantime, the online wallet carrying roughly $10,000 worth of digital currency extorted by the cyber attackers was emptied shortly around the time of the July 4 raid, according to Bitcoin's public ledger.

— raphael satter, chicagotribune.com, "Ukraine says it foiled 2nd stage to cyberattack after police raid," 5 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ledger.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ledger

Middle English lygger, leger large breviary, beam, probably from leyen, leggen to lay

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1588

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Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

LEDGER Defined for English Language Learners

ledger

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noun

Definition of ledger for English Language Learners

: a book that a company uses to record information about the money it has paid and received

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See words that rhyme with ledger Spanish Central: Translation of ledger Nglish: Translation of ledger for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of ledger for Arabic speakers

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