cash register

American  

noun

1. 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.

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cash register British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of cash register

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Example Sentences

The viral dust-up is helping McDonald’s where it counts—at the cash register.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

Now they’re changing the currency on the cash register.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 16, 2025

Ding goes the bell, and ding-ding goes the cash register in Jim’s head.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

Through his cousin Sony, who resides in a nearby halfway house and obsesses about the Civil War, Hai is hired by Home Market, where he scrubs counters and toilets and works the cash register.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2025

Luke stood near the cash register, unsure whether he should follow her.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss