greenback
Americannoun
noun
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informal an inconvertible legal-tender US currency note originally issued during the Civil War in 1862
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slang a dollar bill
Etymology
Origin of greenback
Explanation
A greenback is a dollar bill. Grab some greenbacks, I hear the ice cream truck coming down our street! The slang term greenback is a little old-fashioned, but it's a perfectly good way to say "buck" or "dollar." You might ask the barista at your neighborhood cafe, "How many greenbacks do I owe you?" or tell your mom you need to borrow some greenbacks and you'll pay her back next week. The word has been used since U.S. money was first printed using green ink, in 1778.
Vocabulary lists containing greenback
Chapter 17: The Civil War
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"Money"
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Chapter 4, Sections 1–4
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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.
On Friday, the yen was at 159.6 against the greenback.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
The U.S. dollar was hardly out of its latest funk, even though rising Treasury yields tend to drag the greenback higher.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
The WSJ Dollar Index was down 0.6%, as the greenback weakened 0.7% against the Japanese yen and the euro and as much as 1.2% versus the Swiss franc.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The greenback faces more volatility due to U.S. inflation data and the ongoing Middle East conflict, Commerzbank said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Even better, every other person “dropped some greenback love,” as Cool Papa would say, down into Wah-Wah Nita’s open guitar case.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
