deposit
Americanverb (used with object)
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deposits,
present (3rd person singular)
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deposited,
past participle, past
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depositing
present participle
-
to place for safekeeping or in trust, especially in a bank account.
He deposited his paycheck every Friday.
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to give as security or in part payment.
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to deliver and leave (an item).
Please deposit your returned books with the librarian.
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to insert (a coin) in a coin-operated device.
Deposit a quarter and push the button.
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to put, place, or set down, especially carefully or exactly.
She deposited the baby in the crib.
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to lay or throw down by a natural process; precipitate.
The river deposited soil at its mouth.
verb (used without object)
-
deposits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deposited,
past participle, past
-
depositing
present participle
noun
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deposits
plural
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money placed in a bank account or an instance of placing money in a bank account.
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anything given as security or in part payment.
The boy returned the bottle and got his five-cent deposit back.
They made a deposit on the house and signed a ten-year mortgage.
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anything laid away or entrusted to another for safekeeping.
A large deposit of jewels was stolen from the hotel safe.
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a place for safekeeping; depository.
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something precipitated, delivered and left, or thrown down, as by a natural process.
a deposit of soil.
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the natural sediment of wine in a bottle.
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a coating of metal deposited on something, usually by an electric current.
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a natural accumulation or occurrence, especially of oil or ore.
a mountain range with many rich deposits of gold.
verb
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to put or set down, esp carefully or in a proper place; place
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to entrust for safekeeping; consign
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to place (money) in a bank or similar institution in order to earn interest or for safekeeping
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to give (money) in part payment or as security
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to lay down naturally; cause to settle
the river deposits silt
noun
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-
an instance of entrusting money or valuables to a bank or similar institution
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the money or valuables so entrusted
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money given in part payment or as security, as when goods are bought on hire-purchase See also down payment
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a consideration, esp money, given temporarily as security against loss of or damage to something borrowed or hired
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an accumulation of sediments, mineral ores, coal, etc
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any deposited material, such as a sediment or a precipitate that has settled out of solution
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a coating produced on a surface, esp a layer of metal formed by electrolysis
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a depository or storehouse
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payable as the first instalment, as when buying on hire-purchase
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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depositsimple
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depositssimple
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have depositedperfect
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has depositedperfect
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am depositingprogressive
-
are depositingprogressive
-
is depositingprogressive
-
have been depositingperfect progressive
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has been depositingperfect progressive
Past
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depositedsimple
-
had depositedperfect
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was depositingprogressive
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were depositingprogressive
-
had been depositingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deposit
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin dēpositus “laid down,” past participle of dēpōnere; see depone
Explanation
You are making a deposit when you put money into your bank account. In that sentence, deposit is a noun, but you could express the same action using deposit as a verb. You deposit money into your bank account. The verb deposit can be used to refer to anything that you put down or in place. If you're carrying your keys and groceries from the car, you may deposit those items on the counter. Just be careful you don't end up playing "where are my keys" in the morning, if the counter is not your usual place for depositing them. You can also use deposit when nature does the placing. You find a deposit of gold in the mountain rock or there is sediment deposited at the bottom of a river.
Vocabulary lists containing deposit
Gold Rush: Mining and Metals
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Africa - Introductory
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Africa - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
The civil servant from Cardiff used the money towards a house deposit earlier this year with her partner.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Sometimes, the advertised rate only applies to the first $3,000 or $5,000 you deposit.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Let’s say you’re putting down a $2 million deposit on real estate in Zurich.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Such yields no longer outpace safe alternatives such as Treasurys or certificates of deposit after taxes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
“But you can do it at the bank and then deposit, can’t you?”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
As it enters Assam's vast floodplains, home to some 28 million people and hemmed in by hills, it slows and deposits sediment, fuelling erosion and floods.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Activities are subject to specific permits, and Greenland Energy still hopes to obtain full approval to begin drilling soon in order to determine the quality of potential deposits.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Lumentum Holdings recently agreed to pay AXT $87 million in deposits to reserve six years of indium-phosphide wafer supply.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
In simple terms, they are enormous mineral deposits moving through space.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
The collectors were repeatedly redesigned in a never-ending effort to keep the deposits of U-235 and U-238 apart.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The perpetrators told her to drive to the sheriff’s office to settle the signature issue, then ordered her to pull over before she arrived: Bail had to be deposited all at once, not in increments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
"Studying the ice deposited there could reveal how water spread and ultimately how Earth's oceans formed."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026
Roads have also closed due to debris and mud deposited by the flood water, according to Cardiff council.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
The checks never reached their destination and were deposited into a JPMorgan Chase account not associated with any of the intended recipients, the Justice Department said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
At the house I deposited his can of water on the porch beside his milk and eggs, confident that I had escaped suspicion.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
Researchers around the world have explored several possible solutions, including different dielectric materials, molecular seed layers, and alternative methods for depositing oxides.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
In the video individuals are seen from afar putting their hands into the water while workers undertook cleaning work, but it did not clearly show people damaging the pool or depositing anything into it.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
One woman wrote to me a few years ago to say her husband had opened a new bank account and was depositing his paychecks there.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
That means it’s likely that more buses will be pulling into Villahermosa, depositing deportees still dressed in prison sweats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2026
If she wasn’t dancing over the heads of her opponents, she was tumbling through their chain-link bodies, depositing sticky traps that rooted them to the spot.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
