cash register

American

noun

a business machine that indicates to customers the amounts of individual sales, has a money drawer from which to make change, records and totals receipts, and may automatically calculate the change due.

cash register British

noun

a till with a keyboard that operates a mechanism for displaying and adding the amounts of cash received in individual sales

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cash register

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

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.

The car business is the cash register that funds the empire.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 15, 2026

The finish line isn’t moral resolution, but the banality of the cash register: a product governed where it matters most, at the point of sale.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

When Patterson first gained control over James Ritty’s 1879 invention, the cash register, he discovered he had a quality product with no demand.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 23, 2025

Ed Intagliata leaned his body against the cash register as he greeted customers with a heartfelt goodbye hug.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2025

Brannon stood behind the cash register as usual, his arms folded over his chest.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023