Slang dictionary cheeze [ cheez ] January 6, 2020 What does cheeze mean? Cheeze is an alternative spelling of cheese, sometimes used as a slang term for money. Cheeze is also commonly used for vegan cheese. Related words guala, Monopoly money, fumble the bag, Veganuary, pegan Where does cheeze come from? DVARG / Shutterstock Bread, dough, clams, bacon, cheese. English loves a slang term for money—and many of them are food-related, perhaps due to physical resemblances or riffs on the notion of breadwinner. Cheese as a slang term for money dates back to the mid-1800s. The slang term spread in the 1990s, thanks in part to its use in prominent hip-hop lyrics, such as in the chorus of Jay-Z’s 1999 song “Big Pimpin'”: “We be big pimpin’, spendin’ cheese.” Cheese has long been misspelled, whether by accident or on purpose, as cheeze. (We found a humorous instance in a 1921 dairy journal.) As slang for money, cheeze can be found in 1990s hip-hop lyrics. Both hip-hop and internet slang like to use deliberate misspellings. Cheeze is also often use to refer to vegan cheese, or a cheese-like substance made without dairy. Vegan food substitutes often use alternative spellings to help consumers differentiate products from their meat- or dairy-based originals. Examples of cheeze Callin' up my clout, when I'm out, gotta count my cheeze Tommy Wright III, "Meet Yo Maker" (song), 1994 The daily rat race continues soon! Gotta get my cheeze!! @P07H34D, June 2018 Who uses cheeze? Cheeze, along with cheese and cheddar, can all be used as slang for money, often associated with hip-hop culture. There's so much slang for the word money. Cheeze, racks, stacks, bread, paper — connor huang (@huang_connor) April 24, 2014 Aint got no books yet aint got no notebooks aint got no pens and all I srsly need to get my cheeze together — jael (@eljarelle) May 26, 2014 Cheeze is also widely used to refer to vegan cheese. I just tried the new M&S Plant Kitchen 3 cheeze pizza and I think it may be my new favourite vegan pizza 🍕🍕🍕 pic.twitter.com/MstntBLHRc — Georgia Ⓥ (@thevgword) January 4, 2020 Just Added Black Music Appreciation Month, Older Americans Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Note This is not meant to be a formal definition of cheeze like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of cheeze that will help our users expand their word mastery.