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

The quantum computing company went public on Friday through a merger with a publicly traded blank check company.

From Barron's

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

Unlike the fixed prices that most states use to cap costs, Indiana’s approach became a kind of blank check and therapy providers flooded in to take advantage of the generous reimbursements.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

“That doesn’t mean that it’s just a blank check, you know, no regulatory oversight of large-scale consolidation,” he says on a call with analysts.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• free rein