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cash 1 (kăsh)
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n.
1. Money in the form of bills or coins; currency.
2. Liquid assets including bank deposits and marketable securities.
3. Money paid in currency or by check: paid in cash.
tr.v. cashed, cash·ing, cash·es
To exchange for or convert into ready money: cash a check; cash in one's gambling chips.
Phrasal Verbs:
cash in
1. To withdraw from a venture by or as if by settling one's account.
2. Informal To obtain a profit or other advantage by timely exploitation: Profiteers cashed in during the gasoline shortage.
3. Slang To die.
cash out
To dispose of a long-held asset for profit: Hard-pressed farmers are tempted to cash out by selling their valuable land.
Idiom:
cash on the barrelhead
Immediate payment: You must pay cash on the barrelhead; we don't offer credit.

[Obsolete French casse, money box (from Norman French; see CASE2) or from Italian cassa (from Latin capsa, case).]

cashless adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
cash 2 (kăsh)
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n. pl. cash
Any of various Asian coins of small denomination, especially a copper and lead coin with a square hole in its center.

[Portuguese caixa, from Tamil kācu, a small coin.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Cash (kăsh), John Known as "Johnny." 1932-2003.
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American country and western singer and songwriter best known for his songs about poverty and the downtrodden, including "Folsom Prison Blues" (1956).
(click for a larger image)
Johnny Cash
photographed c. 1994

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.