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
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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
Financial products have been increasingly adding game-like features that create competition or instant gratification to keep users hooked — and the latest example is Tuyo, a prepaid debit card with a “buy-now-pay-maybe” feature.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 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
Between 1 October and 31 December 2026, average standing charges for direct debit customers will be 54.83p a day for electricity and 29.68p a day for gas.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
So if I buy a bar of gold worth £500,1 credit £500 to my current account, and I debit £500 to my list of assets.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Behind the scenes, the service will then automatically transfer direct debits and standing orders, move the balance, redirect incoming payments, such as benefits or salaries, and close your old account.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 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
It said payments were paused on Monday when lenders reported millions of suspicious direct debits from the payment firm.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2025
And then the account book proper, with debits and credits on facing pages.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Adam Bainbridge, a teacher from north London, discovered while routinely checking his accounts on Thursday morning that Thames had debited £145,562 from his bank account.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
In order to operate this way, fintech companies often need a middleman between the fintech company and the bank that can do the bookkeeping necessary to make sure customer accounts are credited and debited correctly.
From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2024
Instead, motorists already in possession of the device can expect to have their toll debited automatically from an account without incurring an $8 processing fee tacked on to the total.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
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
They complained querulously of my accounts, almost insinuating that I debited more wages to the Company than I credited to the men.
From The Sea and the Jungle by H. M. (Henry Major) Tomlinson
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
But the mechanism by which the government sells its debt, debiting bank reserves held at the Fed in exchange for the new bills and bonds, could still test the resilience of some smaller institutions.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
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
His fee was 10s., and, after debiting his out-takes, he received 7s.
From Second Shetland Truck System Report by William Guthrie
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