cash

Etymology 1

From late Middle French caisse (“money-box”), itself borrowed from Occitan caissa, from Latin capsa (“box”), ultimately from capiō (“take, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“grasp”). Doublet of case. Compare Spanish caja (“box”).

noun

1. (uncountable) Money in the form of notes/bills and coins, as opposed to cheques/checks or electronic transactions.
   After you bounced those checks last time, they want to be paid in cash.
   When a man bargains for the price of maintaining such or such principles, or of endeavouring to make out such or such a case, without believing in the soundness of the principles or the truth of the case; such a man, whether he touch the cash (or paper-money) before or after the performance of his work, and whether he work with his tongue or his pen, may, I think be fairly charged with seeking after "base lucre;" […] 13 July 1810, William Cobbett, “To the Reader”, in Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, volume XVIII, number 1, London: Printed by T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, Peterborough Court, Fleet Street; and sold by Richard Bagshaw, Brydges Street, Covent-Garden, and John Budd, Pall-Mall, published 14 July 1810, →OCLC, columns 13–14
2. (uncountable, finance) Liquid assets, money that can be traded quickly, as distinct from assets that are invested and cannot be easily exchanged.
   Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries […]. 2013-07-06, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68
3. (uncountable, informal) Money.
   Paying yourself first also implies that you have some understanding of your cash flow, which means that, yes, you must set a budget. 2017, Erin Lowry, Broke Millennial, page 146
4. (countable, Canada) Cash register, or the counter in a business where the cash register is located.
   Let me just bring these to the cash for you.
   Visit Apple’s jam-packed stores and you won’t see lines at the cash — because every sales clerk is also your cashier, using cellphone card-readers to zip you through. 30 December 2017, Josh Freed, “Just you wait — technology might be the end of the line”, in Montreal Gazette, page A4, column 2
5. (countable, gambling) An instance of winning a cash prize.
   In the WSOP, I have played around 150 tournaments with one final table, 11 cashes, and a -70 percent ROI. 2012, Jonathan Little, Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 2
6. (countable, archaic) A place where money is kept, or where it is deposited and paid out; a money box.
   This bank[…] is properly a general cash, where every man lodges his money, 1787 [1764], Adam Anderson, quoting William Temple, An Historical And Chronological Deduction Of The Origin Of Commerce, From the Earliest Accounts, volume 1, page 236
   She was said to have amassed a great sum of money for ill use ; 20,000l. are known to be in her cash ; 1852, Theresa Lewis, quoting a letter from John More to Ralph Winwood, Lives of the Friends and Contemporaries of Lord Chancellor Clarendon, volume 2, page 321

verb

1. (transitive) To exchange (a check/cheque) for money in the form of notes/bills.
2. (poker slang) To obtain a payout from a tournament.

adj

1. (slang) Great; excellent; cool.

Etymology 2

From Tamil காசு (kācu).

noun

1. Any of several low-denomination coins of India, China, or Vietnam, especially the Chinese copper coin.

Etymology 3

See cashier.

verb

1. To disband. To do away with, kill
   He cashed the old souldiers, and supplied their roumes with yong beginners. 1564, Arthur Golding, Abridgment of the histories of Trogus Pompeius