earner

British

/ ˈɜːnə /

noun

a person who earns money
informal an activity or thing that produces income, esp illicitly

a nice little earner

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to lower the top-level amounts being paid at the club and, when Casemiro leaves in the summer, Rashford will be United's highest earner.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

Denmark, for example, could theoretically reimpose the transit tolls that for centuries were a principal revenue earner for the Danish crown, Kirkegaard said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

So, a couple with two earners needs to have more saved for retirement than a couple with one earner, since they need to replace more total income.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 23, 2026

Last year's panto was the theatre's biggest earner, generating 16% of its annual income.

From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025

Many of them get by by teaming up with another wage earner, a spouse or grown child.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023