Cash

/kæʃ/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang

adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: Money in the form of notes or bills and coins, as opposed to checks, credit or electronic transactions.
  • Grammar: cash is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: acquitment, acquittal, acquittance, amortization.
  • Useful contrasts: personal check, void check, void consent.
  • Usage evidence: Hunger compelled the boy to steal money from the cash register.

How to use "cash"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cash" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cash" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cash" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cash" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "cash" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "acquitment" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "cash", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Money in the form of notes or bills and coins, as opposed to checks, credit or electronic transactions. uncountable, usually

    "After you bounced those checks last time, they want to be paid in cash."

  2. 2
    The low-denomination coin of southern India until 1818. historical
  3. 3
    Acronym of calcium aluminium silicate hydrate. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  4. 4
    prompt payment for goods or services in currency or by check wordnet
  5. 5
    Liquid assets, money that can be traded quickly, as distinct from assets that are invested and cannot be easily exchanged. uncountable, usually

    "Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries […]."

Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    Any of several similar coins in Southeast and East Asia, particularly the imperial Chinese copper coin. historical

    "Shentzŭ is the Chinese name for what we would call a mule litter. As this conveyance can go over almost any kind of road, I decided on it, and engaged two mules for the litter, and a donkey for the baggage: the three animals with the shentzŭ and a man cost 1300 cash per day when we travelled, and 700 cash per day when we rested from any cause."

  2. 7
    Acronym of Centers for Agricultural Safety and Health. US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  3. 8
    money in the form of bills or coins wordnet
  4. 9
    Money. informal, uncountable, usually

    "Paying yourself first also implies that you have some understanding of your cash flow, which means that, yes, you must set a budget."

  5. 10
    Cash register, or the counter in a business where the cash register is located. Canada, countable, usually

    "Let me just bring these to the cash for you."

  6. 11
    An instance of winning a cash prize. countable, usually

    "In the WSOP, I have played around 150 tournaments with one final table, 11 cashes, and a -70 percent ROI."

  7. 12
    A place where money is kept, or where it is deposited and paid out; a money box. archaic, countable, usually

    "This bank[…] is properly a general cash, where every man lodges his money,"

Verb
  1. 1
    To exchange (a check/cheque) for money in the form of notes/bills. transitive

    "My single "Lick and Move" had made it to number four on the Top Ten charts, and I had gotten a nice check from Ruthless Rap. I cashed that shit and took Muddah shopping in Midtown and told her to get any damn thing she wanted."

  2. 2
    To disband. To do away with, to kill.

    "He cashed the old souldiers, and supplied their roumes with yong beginners."

  3. 3
    exchange for cash wordnet
  4. 4
    To obtain a payout from a tournament. slang
Adjective
  1. 1
    Great; excellent; cool. slang
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname originating as an occupation. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A male given name transferred from the surname. countable, uncountable

    "This ill-chosen subplot also means that Kingsolver must make Cash Stillwater (named for his mother's favorite singer, Johnny Cash) more than just a returning widower."

  3. 3
    A number of places in the United States:; A minor city in Craighead County, Arkansas; a corruption of Cache River. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Gordon County, Georgia, named after a sign "Cash or nothing". countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Hart County, Kentucky, named after a postmaster. countable, uncountable
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    A number of places in the United States:; A locale in Watertown Township, Sanilac County, Michigan, named after Edward Cash. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    A number of places in the United States:; A census-designated place in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, named after Col. E. B. Cash. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Hunt County, Texas, named Cash after the name 'Money' was rejected by the Post Office. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
acquitmentacquittalacquittanceamortizationamortizementand pence

Antonyms

personal checkvoid checkvoid consentarcade token

Example

"Hunger compelled the boy to steal money from the cash register."

Common questions

What does "cash" mean?

Money in the form of notes or bills and coins, as opposed to checks, credit or electronic transactions.

What is a synonym for "cash"?

Common synonyms include: acquitment, acquittal, acquittance, amortization, amortizement, and pence.

How do you use "cash" in a sentence?

Hunger compelled the boy to steal money from the cash register.

How do you pronounce "cash"?

Pronounced /kæʃ/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From late Middle French caisse (“money-box”), itself borrowed from Occitan caissa, from Latin capsa (“box”), ultimately from capiō (“take, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“grasp”). Doublet of case, chase, and chasse. Compare Spanish caja (“box”).

Etymology 2

Variant of earlier cass under influence from cash above, from Tamil காசு (kācu), ultimately from Sanskrit karsha ("weight of 1/400 tulā, तुला"). Extended to other similar forms of low-denomination coins in Southeast and East Asia following the example of cognate Portuguese cas, casse, caxa, caixa.

Etymology 3

See cashier.

Etymology 4

Variant of Case. In the US adopted by German immigrants named Kirch and Kirsch.

More for "cash"

Synonyms

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