petty cash

American  

noun

1. a cash fund for paying small charges, as for minor office supplies or deliveries.

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petty cash British  

noun

1. a small cash fund kept on a firm's premises for the payment of minor incidental expenses

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Etymology

Origin of petty cash

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

Living up to his reputation as Cahiers’ brainiac bad boy, he pockets the office’s petty cash to road-trip to the Cannes premiere of Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Our staff keeps petty cash in case one of our clients needs an Uber or a hotel night or bus fare to get back home. The court doesn’t provide that.”

From Los Angeles Times

Yet she was also consistently generous — giving nearly-new clothes and jewelry to friends she thought better suited for them; keeping a petty cash fund just for veterinary bills for loved ones’ ailing pets.

From Los Angeles Times

So Landis and one of the producers, George Folsey Jr., went outside regulations, casting children of mutual acquaintances, keeping their names out of the production’s official paperwork and paying them in petty cash.

From New York Times

According to the organization’s website, participants “learn everything from walkie-talkies to petty cash reconciliation, from lock-up to Who’s Who on the job, as well as office and on-set practices and protocols.”

From Los Angeles Times