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.

---

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]

---

Etymology

Origin of blank check

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

Example Sentences

So far, Wall Street is largely giving a blank check for the AI ambitions of the most creditworthy tech companies, such as Google, Microsoft and Meta.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Friday’s move represented an 18% jump from the stock’s previous closing price, after Xanadu went public through a business combination with a publicly traded blank check company.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

“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

And the other is that, as bad as things are right now, you’re just sort of handing him a blank check.

From Slate • Mar. 18, 2025

When I came back she tore out a blank check and then handed me a hundred-dollar bill she had folded in the side of her wallet.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

Related Words

• free rein