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Synonyms

war chest

American  

noun

  1. money set aside or scheduled for a particular purpose or activity, as for a political campaign or organizational drive.

war chest British  

noun

  1. a fund collected for a specific purpose, such as an election campaign

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of war chest

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

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.

“Micron needs to have a rock-solid balance sheet and war chest to ride out the volatility without meaningfully hurting its long-term business,” he wrote.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026

Consumer Attorneys of California, the bar’s lobbying organization, already assembled a war chest approaching $50 million in contributions from lawyers and law firms.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026

But even with such a massive war chest, is it possible to neutralize the threat of all disease by the year 2100?

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025

Neither did the temporary suspension of export taxes for grain dealers, which generated dollar inflows but didn’t fatten the bank’s war chest because there was also lots of peso selling.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 5, 2025

The Exposition Company’s shrinking war chest had driven its relationship with the National Commission to a new low, with Director-General Davis arguing that any new federal money should be controlled by his commission.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

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.