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

“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 • Oct. 3, 2025

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 • Jun. 25, 2023

“We want the government to provide emergency services like helping fund tickets, food, petty cash, and cellphones and emergent medical needs on arrival,” Vazquez said.

From Washington Post • Jul. 14, 2022

After a burglar bashed a hole in our front door, we kept the petty cash in the bookshelves behind a volume of Ezra Pound.

From The Guardian • Sep. 21, 2019

“Was that yours? The undertaker wouldn’t take poor Rose without having half the cost upfront, and I knew that Rose kept some petty cash here for the household.”

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland