cheque
noun/t͡ʃɛk/
Etymology From check, possibly influenced by exchequer. First attested in the 1790s.
1
Commonwealth, Ireland, UK A written order directing a bank to pay money to a person or entity.
- I was not carrying cash, so I wrote a cheque for the amount.
- They do not, however, all deal with the same banker, and when A gives a cheque to B, B usually pays it not into the same but into some other bank.1848, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, published 1920, page 62:
3 more examples
- 1999, Sam Seunarine, Office Procedures for the Caribbean, 2nd edition, reprinted 2001, page 126, Sometimes abbreviations are used (which would be explained on the statement) and only the last three figures of the cheque number may be given. ‘Sundries’ are cash or cheques paid into the account.
- You can avoid dealing with paper cheques — written or printed — by paying your bills online.2007, Eric Tyson, Tony Martin, Personal Finance for Canadians for Dummies:
- 2009, R. Rajesh, T. Sivagnanasithi, Banking Theory Law & Practice, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, page 206, The daily cheque clearings began around 1770 when bank clerks met at the Five Bells (a tavern in Lombard Street in the City of London) to exchange all their cheques in one place and settle the balances in cash.
2
Canada A bill to be paid, particularly in a restaurant.
- I summoned the waiter, paid the cheque, and hurried to leave.
- Derived terms
- bank cheque, blank cheque, bounced cheque, chequable, cheque book, chequebook, cheque card, chequeless, cheque, please, chequewriter, cross cheque, crossed cheque, e-cheque, Eurocheque, girocheque, pay cheque, paycheque, rain cheque, rubber cheque, traveller's cheque