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)
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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
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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
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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:
Dry, windy days lift ash back into the air, while rain and snow turn it into a heavy deposit blocking drains and damaging infrastructure.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
The reply came within hours, and it was good news: With a refundable $500 deposit, I could secure an appointment with a medbed specialist in D.C.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
A new deposit takes roughly 18 years to reach production, so the chart above shows expected supply into the 2040s.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
If you’re having a hard time reaching a corporate treasurer today, it could be because the treasurer is on the phone with his or her banker, asking for a better deposit rate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Says exactly what I figure he’d say: “Collect some bottles, take ’em in for deposit.
From "Shiloh" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Nearby infrastructure is shattered and entombed beneath the deposits.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Soon after the Senate committee vote was scrapped, Armstrong was on TV, accusing banks of giving away consumer deposits without their consent—a reference to their long-established lending practices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The orange and blue colours on the lunar surface are caused by iron and titanium deposits and it was for that reason that the image was given its title.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
By shopping around, savers may find better rates from banks that are hungry for deposits in a Fed hike.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
Among the general population with no known gross exposures to insecticides it may be assumed that much of the DDT stored in fat deposits has entered the body in food.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
The upper sections of those pits contained 73 thin layers of ash deposited by people between approximately 4,400 and 1,600 years ago.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
Instead of watching the pile dwindle each month, they could focus on the guaranteed amount deposited into their bank account each month.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
In Coedpoeth, villagers say lorries began dumping a few months ago on former farmland off Talwrn Road, and one person said so much had been deposited it had "levelled off" a hillside.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Earlier this year, Amex put an end to a loophole where cardholders deposited the credit into a United program, which they would then use to purchase flights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Or at a molecular level: Proteins in the early embryo are deposited preferentially at one end by the mother.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The investigations in Coedpoeth come as another field on the edge of the nearby village of Minera has seen dozens of lorries depositing materials, which one local councillor described as "reeking of diesel".
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 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
On the third morning, Laila began moving the piles of things to the yard and depositing them by the front door.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
