credit card

American  

noun

• credit cards
  plural

1. a card that identifies a person as entitled to have food, merchandise, services, etc., billed on a charge account.

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credit card British  

noun

1. a card issued by banks, businesses, etc, enabling the holder to obtain goods and services on credit

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• credit cards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of credit card

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

credit card

"Some people don't have savings. I was working to survive… I had to use my credit card in order to pay my rent and I had to ask for money from my family."

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

Fans who registered for the ticket lottery with a Visa credit card received information Monday about time slots to purchase tickets during the Visa presale that runs July 29-31.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Nehls only disclosed a handful of bank accounts, stock and a mutual fund — all worth less than $15,000, while listing liabilities in the form of revolving credit from three credit card companies.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

Nearly every time you pay for something with a credit card, that authorization is processed by an IBM system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

They drove to the hotel in their car and paid for the room with their credit card.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

Related Words

• bank card