cash flow

American  

noun

1. the sum of the after-tax profit of a business plus depreciation and other noncash charges: used as an indication of internal funds available for stock dividends, purchase of buildings and equipment, etc.

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cash flow British  

noun

1. the movement of money into and out of a business

2. a prediction of such movement over a given period

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Etymology

Origin of cash flow

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Anything well above $260 billion will likely take Google’s parent into cash-burning mode, based on Wall Street’s consensus estimates for the company’s operating cash flow from Visible Alpha.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

In a report Tuesday, Scotiabank analyst Nat Schindler said Google’s fundraising is a signal that next year’s free cash flow “is now much more likely to turn negative” for Google’s parent.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

HPE’s networking revenue rose 148% to $2.69 billion due to the Juniper acquisition, with 75% free cash flow return planned for 2027.

From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026

Alphabet also generated $174 billion of operating cash flow in the 12 months that ended on March 31.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026

Countless similar oddities result from our conventional ways of measuring, reporting, and com paring periodic quantities, whether they be the monthly cash flow of a government or the regular daily fluctuations in body temperature.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos