What does "dollar" mean?
Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Its symbol is $.
Dollar
/ˈdɒl.ə/ name, noun, slang
name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Its symbol is $.
- Grammar: dollar is listed as name, noun, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: afghani, anna, baht, bawbee.
- Useful contrasts: cent, cents, euro.
- Usage evidence: The bank will cash your fifty dollar check.
How to use "dollar"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "dollar" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- 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 "dollar" 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 "dollar" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "dollar" 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 "dollar" is acting as name, noun, 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 "afghani" 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 "dollar", 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 Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Its symbol is $.
"But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short."
- 2 a symbol of commercialism or greed wordnet
- 3 Money generally. broadly
"Television, a favored source of news and information, pulls the largest share of advertising monies. In 1935, newspapers received 45 percent of the advertising dollar, magazines 8 percent, and radio 7 percent."
- 4 a United States coin worth one dollar wordnet
- 5 A ringgit, a unit of currency in Malaysia. Malaysia, broadly, colloquial
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 a piece of paper money worth one dollar wordnet
- 7 A quarter of a pound or one crown, historically minted as a coin of approximately the same size and composition as a then-contemporary dollar coin of the United States, and worth slightly more. UK, colloquial, historical
- 8 the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents wordnet
- 9 Imported from the United States, and paid for in U.S. dollars. (Note: distinguish "dollar wheat", North American farmers' slogan, meaning a market price of one dollar per bushel.) attributive, historical
"The restricted purchase of dollar tobacco will, we hope, have the effect of increasing the imports of Turkish and Grecian tobacco"
- 10 A unit of reactivity equal to the interval between delayed criticality and prompt criticality.
Proper Noun
- 1 A small town in Clackmannanshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS9698) countable, uncountable
- 2 An unincorporated community in Coosa County, Alabama, United States. countable, uncountable
- 3 A former community in Ontario, Canada, now part of the city of Markham. countable, uncountable
- 4 A locality in South Gippsland Shire, south eastern Victoria, Australia. countable, uncountable
- 5 A surname. countable, uncountable
Antonyms
Example
"The bank will cash your fifty dollar check."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "dollar"?
Common synonyms include: afghani, anna, baht, bawbee, bill, bob.
How do you use "dollar" in a sentence?
The bank will cash your fifty dollar check.
How do you pronounce "dollar"?
Pronounced /ˈdɒl.ə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Attested since the mid-16th century, from early Dutch daler, daalder, from German Taler, Thaler (“dollar”), earlier Joachimsthaler, literally “of Joachimstal”, the town where the original dollars were minted. The name means “(Saint) Joachim's valley”, from Joachim + Tal. Possibly reinforced by the Dutch leeuwendaalder, which was also used in the American colonies. Doublet of taler /thaler and tolar.
Etymology 2
From Scottish Gaelic Dolair (in Scotland).