cash register

American

noun

a business machine that indicates to customers the amounts of individual sales, has a money drawer from which to make change, records and totals receipts, and may automatically calculate the change due.

cash register British

noun

a till with a keyboard that operates a mechanism for displaying and adding the amounts of cash received in individual sales

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cash register

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

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.

Now they’re changing the currency on the cash register.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 16, 2025

When Patterson first gained control over James Ritty’s 1879 invention, the cash register, he discovered he had a quality product with no demand.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 23, 2025

Ding goes the bell, and ding-ding goes the cash register in Jim’s head.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

“We have seen cockroaches run around the cash register and they have been found dead in the kitchen,” the complaint read.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2025

I'm not sure it did anyone but my cash register any good.

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023