dollar

[dol-er]

noun

1. a paper money, silver or cupronickel coin, and monetary unit of the United States, equal to 100 cents. $

2. a silver or nickel coin and monetary unit of Canada, equal to 100 cents. $

3. any of the monetary units of various other nations, as Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, East Timor, Fiji, Guyana, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Liberia, New Zealand, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe, equal to 100 cents.

4. Also called ringgit. a cupronickel coin and monetary unit of Brunei, equal to 100 sen.

5. ringgit.

6. a thaler.

7. a peso.

8. Levant dollar.

9. yuan.

10. British Slang.,  (formerly)

    1. five-shilling piece; crown.

    2. the sum of five shillings.

dollar

/ ˈdɒlə /

noun

1. the standard monetary unit of the US and its dependencies, divided into 100 cents

2. the standard monetary unit, comprising 100 cents, of the following countries or territories: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kiribati, Liberia, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, and Zimbabwe

3. informal,  (formerly) five shillings or a coin of this value

4. informal,  to look or feel extremely well

Word History and Origins

Origin of dollar¹

First recorded in 1545–55; earlier daler, from Low German, Dutch daler; cognate with German Taler, short for Joachimsthaler, a silver coin minted in Joachimsthal ( Czech Jáchymov ) in Bohemia

Word History and Origins

Origin of dollar¹

C16: from Low German daler, from German Taler, Thaler, short for Joachimsthaler coin made from metal mined in Joachimsthal Jachymov, town now in the Czech Republic

Idioms and Phrases

• feel like a million dollars
• look like a million dollars
• you can bet your ass (bottom dollar)

Example Sentences

He said he spent more than half a million dollars prepping and building the Ocean’s 11 site.

From Los Angeles Times

Even if the corrective notices are mailed to voter households rather than individual voters, the postage alone is likely to be millions of dollars, in addition to the cost of printing the postcards.

From Los Angeles Times

But NBCUniversal has balked because it has spent billions of dollars building Peacock and it wants to remain the conduit for its customers.

From Los Angeles Times

Attendees paid up to hundreds or thousands of dollars on the resale market for tickets to attend the event, part of a multi-city book tour that began last week in New York City.

From Los Angeles Times

What’s more, officials decided to spend affordable housing dollars that could have gone to building in Berry Creek down the hill in the cities of Oroville or Chico.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• currency 
• greenback