rubber check

noun

1. a check drawn on an account lacking the funds to pay it; a check that bounces.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rubber check¹

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30

Idioms and Phrases

A check drawn on an account without the funds to pay it, as in He's been handing out rubber checks right and left, but the police have caught up with him . The rubber alludes to the fact that, like rubber, the check “bounces,” in this case back from the bank. [ Slang ; c. 1920]

Example Sentences

Karma, a thoroughbred mare that was once a racehorse, a Rubber Check Race horse and in training for Polocrosse, had her projects cut short after a life-threatening injury to her left front hoof in 2012.

From Washington Times

My party should never be a rubber stamp for rubber check spending.”

From New York Times

New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir says hundreds of leads and inquiries have come in from across the country and beyond since the Kimeses were nabbed July 5 in New York on a fraud warrant after a Lincoln Town Car they allegedly purchased with a rubber check was found with a loaded gun, a box of .22-cal. cartridges, wigs, $30,000 in cash, blood splatters and documents that may link them to the dead man and the missing banker.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of the fastest-rising innovations is the rubber check that does not bounce; under such catchy names as "instant money," banks extend a line of credit to their checking-account customers, permit them to write checks up to that amount, charge them interest of 12%.

From Time Magazine Archive