dollar

[ dol-er ]

noun

1. a paper money, silver or cupronickel coin, and monetary unit of the United States, equal to 100 cents. : $
2. a silver or nickel coin and monetary unit of Canada, equal to 100 cents. : $
3. any of the monetary units of various other nations, as Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, East Timor, Fiji, Guyana, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Liberia, New Zealand, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe, equal to 100 cents.
4. Also called ringgit. a cupronickel coin and monetary unit of Brunei, equal to 100 sen.
5. ringgit ( def ).
6. a thaler.
7. a peso.
8. Levant dollar.
9. yuan ( def 1 ).
10. British Slang. (formerly)
    1. five-shilling piece; crown.
    2. the sum of five shillings.

dollar

/ ˈdɒlə /

noun

1. the standard monetary unit of the US and its dependencies, divided into 100 cents
2. the standard monetary unit, comprising 100 cents, of the following countries or territories: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kiribati, Liberia, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, and Zimbabwe
3. informal.
   (formerly) five shillings or a coin of this value
4. look or feel (like) a million dollars informal.
   to look or feel extremely well

Word History and Origins

Origin of dollar¹

First recorded in 1545–55; earlier daler, from Low German, Dutch daler; cognate with German Taler, short for Joachimsthaler, a silver coin minted in Joachimsthal ( Czech Jáchymov ) in Bohemia

Word History and Origins

Origin of dollar¹

C16: from Low German daler, from German Taler, Thaler, short for Joachimsthaler coin made from metal mined in Joachimsthal Jachymov, town now in the Czech Republic

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with dollars , also see feel like a million dollars ; look like a million dollars ; you can bet your ass (bottom dollar) .

Example Sentences

Cortes said he had political power in mind after the Santa Ana police union began to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each election cycle to put their favored candidates on the City Council.

From Los Angeles Times

It has also been angered by the chaotic transition to a new social health insurance scheme, with the government owing millions of dollars to faith-based hospitals.

From BBC

All of those measures were defeated, but forced the real estate industry to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in opposition.

From Los Angeles Times

The group is eyeing more than a billion dollars in infrastructure projects across Tanzania and Kenya.

From BBC

Companies such as Fox Television Stations, Nexstar Media Group, Tegna and Gray Media are eager to buy more TV stations to better compete against deep-pocketed tech firms that are aggressively pursuing viewers and ad dollars.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• currency
• greenback