exchequer
Americannoun
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a treasury, as of a state or nation.
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(in Great Britain)
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(often initial capital letter) the governmental department in charge of the public revenues.
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(formerly) an office administering the royal revenues and determining all cases affecting them.
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Also called Court of Exchequer. (initial capital letter) an ancient common-law court of civil jurisdiction in which cases affecting the revenues of the crown were tried, now merged in the King's Bench Division of the High Court.
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Informal. one's financial resources; funds.
I'd love to go, but the exchequer is a bit low.
noun
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(often capital) government (in Britain and certain other countries) the accounting department of the Treasury, responsible for receiving and issuing funds
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informal personal funds; finances
noun
Etymology
Origin of exchequer
1250–1300; Middle English escheker, eschequier < Anglo-French escheker, eschekier ( Old French eschequier ) chessboard, counting table. See checker 1
Explanation
Exchequer is a British term for the individual in the government who is in charge of the money: the treasurer. Sometimes it refers to the office in which all the money is kept, the treasury itself. If you follow British government, you may have noticed that although they have a democracy much like ours, some things are very different. One of them is that the person in the government who is in charge of the government's finances, the Treasury Secretary, is called the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The word has been around for a long time. There were exchequers in medieval England, back when exchequer offices worked for kings.
Vocabulary lists containing exchequer
My Brother Sam is Dead
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The Merry Wives of Windsor
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Henry IV, Part 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The chancellor of the exchequer warned of "necessary choices" as Britain struggles with high debt and inflation.
From Barron's • Nov. 6, 2025
It is more than half a century since a chancellor of the exchequer chose to put up the basic rate of income tax.
From BBC • Nov. 4, 2025
But independent experts and rating agencies like Moody's expect the figure to be higher, with the strain on the exchequer "even more pronounced" in the coming years.
From BBC • Sep. 21, 2025
In her Budget statement, the chancellor of the exchequer will outline the government's plans for raising or lowering taxes.
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2025
Not that I cared which side we sold them to, but the British were the ones who had money—they had the whole English exchequer behind them.
From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
