current account
Americannoun
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current accounts
plural
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Also called open account. an account of credits, debits, receipts, and expenditures between two individuals or companies, usually providing for settlement at the end of specified accounting periods.
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(in certain foreign countries) a checking account.
noun
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Canadian name: chequing account. US name: checking account. an account at a bank or building society against which cheques may be drawn at any time
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economics that part of the balance of payments composed of the balance of trade and the invisible balance Compare capital account
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of current account
First recorded in 1840–50
Compare meaning
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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.
By funneling income and investment toward export industries and away from consumers, this depresses consumption and expands the current account surplus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
More recently, a collapsed property bubble has shriveled investment and further widened the current account surplus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Japan runs the biggest current account surplus in the G-7 — which should, in theory, be supportive of the currency.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Basic bank accounts have many of the same functions as a regular current account, but are designed for those who might otherwise be excluded from the banking system.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
If I borrow £500, then £500 is a debit to my current account, and a credit to my list of liabilities.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
