paycheck

American  

[pay-chek] / ˈpeɪˌtʃɛk /

noun

• paychecks
  plural

1. a bank check given as salary or wages.

2. salary or wages.

   One can stretch the paycheck only just so far.

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Usage

What does paycheck mean? A paycheck is the bank check that is given to an employee by their employer to pay them for their work. Paycheck is also used more generally to refer to the money a person is paid for their work, as in Most of my paycheck goes to paying rent and bills. It can refer to wages (payment based on the time spent working or the number of items worked on) or a salary (a set amount paid over time). A paycheck can be an actual piece of paper (a check) that a person can take to the bank to deposit to their account or exchange for cash. Alternatively, a paycheck can be money a company electronically deposits directly into the employee’s bank account. This is often referred to as a direct deposit. Paychecks are often issued to employees every two weeks, but they can also be given weekly, bimonthly, or monthly. Typically, a paycheck also includes information about the  taxes and deductions that have been taken out of an employee’s pay. Paychecks are the most common method of payment in the U. S. for most part-time and full-time employees. Jobs that involve payments of cash or other compensation are much less common. Example: I’m thankful that my work allows me to earn a steady paycheck, but I dream of starting my own business.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paychecks
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of paycheck

First recorded in 1900–05; pay ¹ + check ¹

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Explanation

Your paycheck is the money you get from work, usually every week or two. Country singer Johnny Paycheck’s big hit was “Take This Job and Shove It.” Good luck getting a paycheck after saying that! An employer usually pays employees with regularly scheduled paychecks. Your paycheck represents payment of your wages for the amount of time you worked. A lot of workers have their salaries deposited directly into their bank accounts, so they don't actually get a paper paycheck. You can also use paycheck more generally to mean "income" or "earnings," as in "All that money for health insurance comes right out of my paycheck."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paycheck paychecks

“I’ve never met a paycheck I didn’t like.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

"For a young, struggling couple... living from paycheck to paycheck, $10,000 is a lot of money," says Jeff Fasnacht, a retired high school teacher who lives in the gated community.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

“My paycheck is the same, but the fuel goes up,” Premtaj said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Years ago, Hannah Williams learned her paycheck was $25,000 less than the going rate for her data-analytics job and talked about it on TikTok.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

Although the suit was eventually resolved, the legal wrangling had been nasty, and had deprived her of a paycheck for the better part of a year.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

For much of the past half-century, capital has grown faster than wages, rewarding people who owned financial assets more than those who relied on their paychecks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

“You could end up having to spend less than you want, and take smaller paychecks along the way,” Chatzky said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

ADP manages the distribution of paychecks for more than 25 million employees at companies around the country.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

He almost certainly wasn’t going to make the Browns’ regular-season roster, which would leave him hoping to land on a practice squad, where players earn weekly paychecks with no guarantees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Half my paychecks bounced, and she refused to reimburse me for my penalty charges, claiming that it was my bank's fault, not hers.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

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