cookie jar

American  

noun

1. a jar or other container for storing cookies.

2. such a container used for storing money.

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idioms

1. have one's hand in the cookie jar, to take or attempt to take advantage of one's position by demanding or accepting favors or bribes.

   They suspected the mayor's assistant had his hand in the cookie jar.

Etymology

Origin of cookie jar

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45

Example Sentences

America’s largest sporting-goods retailer has been around since the 1940s,, when a teenager opened a fishing supply shop in Binghamton, N.Y. with $300 in cash from his grandmother’s cookie jar.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026

It’s sort of like a cookie jar — the bigger it is, the more cookies it can store.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2023

For markets, this is like stealing the last cookie in the cookie jar, getting caught red handed, and, instead of a good spanking, you get another cookie, with chocolate on.

From Reuters • Feb. 2, 2023

“They finally got busted with their hands in the cookie jar, and now they’re going to have to pay.”

From Washington Post • Feb. 9, 2022

"Here . . His dad walked over to the cookie jar and pulled out a bunch of twenties. "If this doesn't work, with her uncle, don't take Eleanor home.

From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell