debit
Americannoun
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debits
plural
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the recording or an entry of debt in an account.
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Bookkeeping.
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that which is entered in an account as a debt; a recorded item of debt.
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any entry or the total shown on the debit side.
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the left-hand side of an account on which such entries are made (opposed to credit).
-
-
an undesirable or disadvantageous feature.
verb (used with object)
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debits,
present (3rd person singular)
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debited,
past participle, past
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debiting
present participle
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to charge with a debt.
The store debited her account for the purchase.
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to charge as a debt.
The store debited the purchase to her account.
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Bookkeeping. to enter upon the debit side of an account.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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debitsimple
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debitssimple
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have debitedperfect
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has debitedperfect
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am debitingprogressive
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are debitingprogressive
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is debitingprogressive
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have been debitingperfect progressive
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has been debitingperfect progressive
Past
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debitedsimple
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had debitedperfect
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was debitingprogressive
-
were debitingprogressive
-
had been debitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of debit
1400–50; late Middle English < Old French < Latin dēbitum something owed; see debt
Explanation
A debit is a payment made or charged, or the notation of the amount charged. Trying to track down the mysterious $2 debit to your bank account is almost never fruitful, but you’re bound to do it anyway. From the Latin debere, meaning “to owe,” and just one i away from its more blunt cousin debt, a debit seems like a little word. But add an s to the end, and those charges really add up. You can use the word debit as a verb — “to debit your account,” or a noun — “the debit on your account,” but either way, a debit means you have less money than you had before!
Vocabulary lists containing debit
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 17
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de-
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Century 21 Accounting, 9e, Chapters 1-3
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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.
See Examples For:
The stolen data did not include Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, financial account information, credit or debit card information or account passwords.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
Banks have the same requirement for debit cards.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Julia told PA that the debit took Adam's account "considerably" into overdraft.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Alaska also announced a number of changes to its loyalty program, including a new debit card it plans to launch next year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
My dad thankfully had the common sense to send me to the bank after I turned eighteen so I could get a debit card.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
Many deals are dependent on conditions such as a minimum amount of money into your account in the first few weeks, or minimum number of direct debits leaving it.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
It may also involve traditional accounting activities, such as tracking payments in a general ledger, involving debits and credits and double-entry accounting, as well as accounts payable activities of making payments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
The ledger of Newman’s youth had mostly debits for the future painter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
But in a statement, Corbyn said the emails were "unauthorised" and should be ignored, while any direct debits set up should be "immediately cancelled".
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2025
I took the disk to my room, installed the program on my laptop and whizzed through the tutorial, and in no time flat, I was entering debits and listing credits.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
The bank fixed the error and gave him a deposit slip that read: “Correction, teller debited wrong account.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
The cash helped her cover expenses until payday, when the app debited the borrowed $100, plus $18 for the fee and tip.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
Payments that are automatically debited are expected to resume on the first due date after payments are again required.
From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2021
This will ensure that the appropriate funds are debited or credited from your account when you pay for a purchase or receive compensation from work.
From Encyclopedia.com ● Feb. 5, 2018
Or, again, should Ireland be debited with the cost of the machinery for carrying out Land Purchase, a policy admittedly rendered necessary by the enforced maintenance in the past of bad land laws?
From The Framework of Home Rule by Erskine Childers
Warren also said that Bilt’s practice of immediately debiting rent payments may have run afoul of the 2009 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act’s disclosure requirements for credit cards.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026
Last month, the bureau punished Enova, which runs online lender CashNetUSA, for failing to honor promised loan extensions and for debiting customers’ bank accounts without authorization.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 6, 2019
This ability “endeared him to the Vatican,” because he could move church funds around by debiting an account in one branch and crediting one in another, with coins never changing hands.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 6, 2015
“All debt management is, is debiting and crediting different accounts,” Mr. Mosler said, recalling seeing numbers appear and disappear from his computer at Bankers Trust in New York in the 1970s.
From New York Times ● Jul. 4, 2013
The next is John Sinclair, jun.; after debiting his out-takes, he received 8s. 4d. in cash?-Yes.
From Second Shetland Truck System Report by William Guthrie
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