briefcase
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of briefcase
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How does briefcase compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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:
He says he remembers one of the men was holding a briefcase.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
The bit of the show that kept people glued to their screens was that the contestant then got an offer from a hidden “banker” for the first, unopened briefcase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
An armored vehicle moved it—or rather moved Ridge, who was handcuffed to a metal briefcase holding the formula—from one bank vault to another in 2018.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026
He carried a script he was writing in a slim briefcase, which he’d shuttle back and forth from the brand-new Starbucks down the street.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2025
After bending over and locking the metal door, he hoisted the carrier to his side like a briefcase.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
But sometimes the opposite happened: The offer was better than the average of the remaining briefcases and contestants still kept playing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
He opened briefcases and huge chests with bundles of cash.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
There’s a moment in the movie where you have one of those metal briefcases and you start banging it against the wall over and over until it finally breaks open.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2025
By now employees with briefcases, obviously managers, had arrived for the day, and her excuses were wearing thin.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
On one visit my father brought us gifts of child-size briefcases.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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.
