What does cash mean?
Cash is money in its most tangible form — coins and banknotes that can be handed over directly in exchange for goods and services. It stands in contrast to less immediate forms of payment such as credit cards, cheques, bank transfers, and other digital methods, which depend on an intermediary rather than physical exchange. In everyday speech, paying 'in cash' suggests immediacy and finality, while in business language the word broadens to mean any readily available funds, as in phrases like 'cash flow' or being 'flush with cash'. The verb form, to cash, means to convert a cheque or similar instrument into money. Because cash leaves no automatic record, it carries connotations of privacy, informality, and sometimes tax evasion or illicit dealing. Derived forms include cashier, cashless, and cashflow, all of which extend the core idea of ready money into commerce and banking.
Money in the form of coins or banknotes; more broadly, immediately available funds as opposed to credit or investments.
"He withdrew some cash from the ATM before heading to the market."
Uncountable in this sense; do not say 'a cash'.
To exchange a cheque, money order, or similar instrument for cash; to obtain the monetary value of something.
"You can cash this cheque at any branch of the bank."
Cash is normally uncountable and has no plural form; to count units, refer to notes, coins, bills, or sums of money instead.
"Please make sure you have enough cash on hand for the trip."
The money in your pocket and a pirate's hidden treasure chest come from the same root: 'cash' originally meant a money box before it meant the money inside it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cash
The English word 'cash' derives from the French 'caisse', meaning money box or case, which itself comes from Latin 'capsa', a box or container. It entered English in the late sixteenth century, initially referring to the money box itself before shifting to mean the coins and notes kept within it. The same Latin root gives us related words such as 'case', 'cassette', and 'chase', all built around the idea of a container or enclosure.
Related word forms
How cash is actually used
In everyday use, 'cash' typically contrasts with card or digital payment. In business and finance contexts it extends to liquid funds generally. The verb 'to cash' (as in cash a cheque) is standard in both British and US English. Informal expressions such as 'cash' for money generally are common in speech but avoided in formal writing, where 'funds' or 'currency' may be preferred.
Easily confused with cash
A cache is a hidden store of items or a computer memory reserve, while cash means money in coins or notes — they are pronounced identically but entirely unrelated in meaning.