blank check

American  

noun

1. a bank check bearing a signature but no stated amount.

2. unrestricted authority; a free hand.

   He was given a blank check in the choice of personnel for the new department.

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blank check Idioms  

1. Unrestricted authority, a free hand, as in I'll support most of the chairman's agenda, but I'm not ready to give him a blank check for the company's future. Literally this term signifies a bank check that is signed by the drawer but does not indicate the amount of money, which is filled in by the person to whom it is given. [Late 1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of blank check

First recorded in 1790–95, and in 1885–90 blank check for def. 2

Example Sentences

Given a blank check, Fennell brings the world of Brontë’s novel to life — not with staggering realism, as so many other adaptations have, but with fervent fantasy.

From Salon • Jun. 10, 2026

Xanadu said in November that it planned to merge with Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded blank check company, in order to officially enter the public market.

From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026

But the latest results—and the reaction in after-hours trading Wednesday—show the blank check investors have written to the Facebook parent might have an expiration date after all.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025

“A state of war is not a blank check for the President,” said Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2004.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2025

The clerk, apparently, was not of that opinion, for he produced a blank check, and when Dick made it out for eighty dollars more than the bill totaled, instantly paid over the difference in cash.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Related Words

• free rein