Shinplaster

noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An essentially worthless note of paper money. Australia, New-Zealand, US, historical, informal
  2. 2
    paper money of little value issued on insufficient security wordnet
  3. 3
    A 25¢ banknote. Canada, historical, informal

Synonyms

All synonyms
billnotescriptreasury note

Etymology

From shin + plaster. Probably coined during the American War of Independence (1775–1783). Named for its resemblance to, and suitability for makeshift use as, a bandage for dressing the shin.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.