wallet
Americannoun
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wallets
plural
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a flat, folding pocketbook, especially one large enough to hold paper money, credit cards, driver's license, etc., and sometimes having a compartment for coins.
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Chiefly British. a bag for carrying food, clothing, toilet articles, etc., during a journey; knapsack or rucksack.
noun
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a small folding case, usually of leather, for holding paper money, documents, etc
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a bag used to carry tools
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archaic a rucksack or knapsack
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wallet
1350–1400; Middle English walet < ?
Compare meaning
How does wallet compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
See Examples For:
Bureau of Labor Statistics — and lately, it’s been taking a bigger slice out of my wallet.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
A few days later, rifling through my wallet, I passed a small red-and-gold card decorated with lucky cats and a rising sun.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
I ended up leaving with the Hotel Mar-a-Lago shirt, which Bill insisted I take as a souvenir of my visit, refusing my money when I pulled out my wallet.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
The defence succeeded in excluding some items - a gun magazine, cell phone, passport, wallet and computer chip, found in Mangione's backpack.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Tony dug out his wallet and pulled a smudged and crinkled business card from its billfold.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
Nine in 10 users of mobile wallets have their debit card loaded as their default payment method on their phone, with the remainder having registered their credit card.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
The debt crisis coincides with the rise of easy access to credit from digital wallets such as Mercado Pago, the digital payment arm of e-commerce giant Mercado Libre.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
But the squeeze on drivers’ wallets has intensified in recent years, powered by rising purchase prices and high interest rates.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
After the dozens of well-heeled guests in attendance tucked into New York strip steaks and carrot cake, Kielpinski called on them to open their wallets and donate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The wallets had some names, but they told me to pick a jacket if I could find one that fit.
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
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.
