cashier
1 Americannoun
-
cashiers
plural
-
an employee, as in a market or department store, who collects payments for customer purchases.
-
an executive who has charge of money, especially one who superintends monetary transactions, as in a bank.
-
an employee of a business establishment who keeps a record of financial transactions.
verb (used with object)
-
cashiers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cashiered,
past participle, past
-
cashiering
present participle
-
to dismiss (a military officer) from service, especially with disgrace.
-
to discard; reject.
noun
-
a person responsible for receiving payments for goods, services, etc, as in a shop
-
Also called: teller. an employee of a bank responsible for receiving deposits, cashing cheques, and other financial transactions; bank clerk
-
any person responsible for handling cash or maintaining records of its receipt and disbursement
verb
-
to dismiss with dishonour, esp from the armed forces
-
rare to put away or discard; reject
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cashiersimple
-
cashierssimple
-
have cashieredperfect
-
has cashieredperfect
-
am cashieringprogressive
-
are cashieringprogressive
-
is cashieringprogressive
-
have been cashieringperfect progressive
-
has been cashieringperfect progressive
Past
-
cashieredsimple
-
had cashieredperfect
-
was cashieringprogressive
-
were cashieringprogressive
-
had been cashieringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cashier1
First recorded in 1570–80; from Middle French caissier “custodian of a money-box” (perhaps via Dutch ), equivalent to caisse “money-box” (from Provençal caissa, from Latin capsa “a case”) + -ier noun suffix; see origin at case 2, -ier 2
Origin of cashier2
1570–80; < Middle Dutch kasseren < Middle French casser to break, discharge, annul < Latin quassāre to shatter; see quash
Explanation
A cashier is someone who works at a store ringing up people's purchases. Most cashiers use a cash register for keeping money and making change. Fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and book shops all hire cashiers to scan purchases or manually enter their prices into a register, process the customer's payment, and put the items in bags. In Britain, you can also call a bank teller a cashier. The word is from the Middle French caissier, "treasurer," which comes from caisse, "money box."
Vocabulary lists containing cashier
Material World: Shopping Lingo
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Attention, Shoppers!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Spelling Practice 2, Unit 7
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
The cashier at the local Chopt admitted to me that foot traffic had slowed significantly this week, even before the smoggy conditions set in.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
He earns $33 an hour as a Costco cashier.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
He likes the direct contact he has with shoppers as a cashier and feels he can act as an effective mentor to other employees, in part because he isn’t their boss.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
He pours the Ditka wine into a plastic cup and unwraps his hoagie, layered with ham and, as the cashier so memorably described it, “limited-time yellow squirt.”
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
I can hear the drive- through cashier on the speaker asking if they want to add fries and a drink.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
Shoppers stockpiled the discounts because cashiers would usually accept them even if they expired.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Of the 20 most common occupations in the state, 13 paid on average less than $20 an hour, including retail salespeople, cashiers and cooks, according to a 2025 study by United Way of Florida.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Shoppers and cashiers alike are left navigating this maze, unsure whether their next purchase will pass or fail.
From Salon ● Jan. 3, 2026
Every one of the cashiers had a banking degree, and some of the kitchen workers had engineering Ph.D.s.
From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2025
The cashiers are still setting up their registers.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
Some of the military commanders and industry executives cashiered in the past 2½ years, including Zhang, had been working in areas that benefited significantly from the influx of state funding, particularly weapons development.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
That’s what Britain did in World War I when it cashiered H.H.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
Not to give away the ending to Titanic here, but none of these incumbents cashiered their vice presidents.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2023
Lauer seems superficially to be the inspiration for Steve Carell’s cashiered breakfast show cohost on Apple TV+'s “The Morning Show,” currently nominated for a clutch of Emmys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2020
Devinsky had been cashiered; and only Durescq's great influence had prevented him from sharing the same fate.
From By Right of Sword by Arthur W. (Arthur Williams) Marchmont
The cashiering of Caldwell is notable because of his relationship with Hegseth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2025
From students to adults, volunteers staff customer service, cashiering, security and even help to build display booths.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2021
What the firing of as many as 85,000 Baathists actually meant, then, was the cashiering of countless more people and the instant impoverishment of entire clans and tribes.
From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2016
But donors will hold off cashiering Bush, even if he finishes in the middle of the New Hampshire pack.
From Slate ● Feb. 7, 2016
“This job is so much better than cashiering in the grocery store.”
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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.
