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• exchequer
  exchequer

  noun

  a treasury, as of a state or nation.
• Exchequer
  Exchequer

  noun

  See Court of Exchequer

exchequer

American  

[eks-chek-er, iks-chek-er] / ˈɛks tʃɛk ər, ɪksˈtʃɛk ər /

noun

1. a treasury, as of a state or nation.

2. (in Great Britain)

   1. (often initial capital letter) the governmental department in charge of the public revenues.

   2. (formerly) an office administering the royal revenues and determining all cases affecting them.

   3. Also called Court of Exchequer. (initial capital letter) an ancient common-law court of civil jurisdiction in which cases affecting the revenues of the crown were tried, now merged in the King's Bench Division of the High Court.

3. Informal. one's financial resources; funds.

   I'd love to go, but the exchequer is a bit low.

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exchequer ¹ British  

/ ɪksˈtʃɛkə /

noun

1. (often capital) government (in Britain and certain other countries) the accounting department of the Treasury, responsible for receiving and issuing funds

2. informal personal funds; finances

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Exchequer ² British  

/ ɪksˈtʃɛkə /

noun

1. See Court of Exchequer

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Etymology

Origin of exchequer

1250–1300; Middle English escheker, eschequier < Anglo-French escheker, eschekier ( Old French eschequier ) chessboard, counting table. See checker ¹

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Explanation

Exchequer is a British term for the individual in the government who is in charge of the money: the treasurer. Sometimes it refers to the office in which all the money is kept, the treasury itself. If you follow British government, you may have noticed that although they have a democracy much like ours, some things are very different. One of them is that the person in the government who is in charge of the government's finances, the Treasury Secretary, is called the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The word has been around for a long time. There were exchequers in medieval England, back when exchequer offices worked for kings.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exchequer Exchequer

She advised the Irish politician Thomas Spring Rice, later the British chancellor of the exchequer, on relief for and education of the poor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Official data Tuesday showed UK government borrowing dropped more than expected in June, handing a boost Healey, who replaced Rachel Reeves as chancellor of the exchequer.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

UK markets were largely steady Tuesday having shown some signs of unease ahead of Healey's appointment as chancellor of the exchequer.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

The current front-runner to be named chancellor of the exchequer, Britain’s equivalent of finance minister, is Wes Streeting, who has previously advocated for higher taxes on capital.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

In fact, since it was first installed at a cost of two hundred and thirty-six dollars to the Milagro exchequer, that parking meter had received only fourteen dimes, eight nickels, and eleven pennies.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey against making a more hostile tax environment for banks, according to the Financial Times.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

John Healey - who has been announced as Andy Burnham's Chancellor of the Exchequer - is seen as the ultimate safe pair of hands.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

“The people of Clacton deserve better,” Britain’s finance chief, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, said when accepting Farage’s request to step down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Responding to the figures, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said that the war "will have an impact at home".

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

The English Exchequer used to keep accounts on a variant of the tally stick until 1826.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

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