collection plate
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of collection plate
First recorded in 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.
With a fee that she purloins from a church collection plate, she implores him for help and he agrees, as he learns more about this young girl’s challenging childhood.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025
Social pressure is always at work when the workplace passes around the proverbial collection plate, but you can either abstain silently or explain that you can’t afford any additional expenses right now.
From New York Times • May 14, 2023
After all, they help fill the collection plate and the tithing box.
From Washington Post • Oct. 25, 2022
With cash in Tigray running out, the collection plate is no longer passed at Mass. The bread for communion will be depleted soon.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 15, 2021
Of course, you can say the same thing without using any possessives: After waiting an hour in court, Butch was given two years of probation for stealing fifty dollars in change from the collection plate.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
