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cash¹

(kăsh)

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).]

cashless adj.

cash²

(kăsh)

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.]

Cash

(kăsh), John Known as "Johnny." 1932-2003.

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

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.

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