mon ‧ ey S1 W1 /ˈmʌni/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: moneie , from Latin moneta 'mint, money' , from Moneta , name given to Juno, the goddess in whose temple the ancient Romans produced money ]
1 . what you earn by working and can use to buy things. Money can be in the form of notes and coins or cheques, and can be kept in a bank:
Don’t spend all your money on the first day of your holiday!
The repairs will cost quite a lot of money.
2 . money in the form of coins or notes that you can carry around with you SYN cash :
You’ll find some money in my purse.
I didn’t have any money on me (=I was not carrying any money) .
Swiss/Japanese/Turkish etc money
Don’t forget to get some Swiss money before you leave.
We can change some money at the airport (=change it into the money of another country) .
3 . someone’s wealth, including all the property and other things they own:
The family made their money in the woollen trade.
He had lost all his money gambling.
4 . the money informal the amount of money that you earn for doing a job:
It sounds quite an interesting job, but I don’t know what the money’s like yet.
You have to work long hours and the money’s terrible!
5 . pay good money for something spoken to spend a lot of money on something:
Don’t let the children jump around on the sofa. I paid good money for that.
6 . put/pump/pour money into something to give money to a company or business so that it will become successful and you will earn money from it in the future:
No one’s going to put money into the company while the market is so unstable.
7 . there’s money (to be made) in something spoken used to say that you can earn a lot of money from doing a particular job or type of business:
There’s a lot of money in sport these days.
Teaching can be very rewarding, but there’s no money in it.
8 . I’m not made of money spoken used to say that you cannot afford something when someone asks you to pay for it.
9 . have money to burn to have more money than you need, so that you spend it on unnecessary things:
Unless you’ve got money to burn, these expensive guitars are probably not for you.
10 . get your money’s worth to get something worth the price that you paid:
At that price, you want to make sure you get your money’s worth.
11 . be in the money informal to have a lot of money suddenly, or when you did not expect to
12 . money is no object informal used to say that someone can spend as much money as they want to on something
13 . for my money spoken used when giving your opinion about something to emphasize that you believe it strongly:
For my money, he’s one of the best TV comedians ever.
14 . put (your) money on something to risk money on the result of a race or competition
15 . I’d put (my) money on something spoken used to say that you feel sure that something will happen
16 . my money’s on somebody/something ( also the smart money’s on somebody/something ) spoken used to say that you feel sure someone will win a race or competition, or that something will happen
17 . money for old rope British English spoken money that you earn very easily by doing a job that is not difficult
18 . put your money where your mouth is informal to show by your actions that you really believe what you say
19 . money talks spoken used to say that people with money have power and can get what they want
20 . be (right) on the money American English spoken to be completely correct or right:
You were right on the money when you said that he would have to resign.
21 . marry (into) money to marry someone whose family is rich
⇨ ↑ monies , ↑ blood money , ↑ hush money , ⇨ give somebody a (good) run for their money at ↑ run 2 (11), ⇨ have a (good) run for your money at ↑ run 2 (12), ⇨ throw money at something at ↑ throw 1 (19)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ have money
I didn’t have enough money to pay for it.
▪ make/earn money
She makes a little money by babysitting.
▪ spend money (on something)
More money should be spent on training.
▪ cost money/cost a lot of money
Good food doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.
▪ save money (=use less money)
Companies fired workers to save money.
▪ make money (=make a profit)
The farm was beginning to make money at last.
▪ lose money (=not make a profit, so that you then have less money)
The movie didn’t attract audiences and lost money for the studio.
▪ pay money (for something)
Has he paid the money he owes you?
▪ lend somebody money
My dad lent me money to buy a car.
▪ borrow money
They arranged to borrow money from the bank to buy a house.
▪ owe somebody money
He owes me money.
▪ waste money (on something)
Don’t waste your money on a computer that doesn’t have enough memory.
▪ raise money (=do something to get money for a charity, school etc)
The Christmas fair raises money for the school.
▪ save up money
She had saved up enough money to buy a car.
▪ give somebody their money back ( also refund sb’s money ) (=give money back to a customer)
We regret that we are unable to refund money on tickets.
▪ money goes on something (=is spent on something)
All the money went on doctor’s bills.
▪ money comes in (=is earned and received)
Rob wasn’t working for a while, so we had less money coming in.
▪ money comes from something (=used to say how someone makes their money)
All of Dawson’s money came from drugs.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + money
▪ good money (=a lot of money)
Preston earns good money as a lawyer.
▪ big money informal (=a very large amount of money)
Basketball players make big money.
▪ easy money (=money that you earn easily)
For many, selling drugs seems like easy money.
▪ spending money (=an amount of money that you can spend on anything you want)
We had £500 spending money saved for our holiday.
▪ pocket money/spending money British English (=a small amount of money that parents regularly give their children)
How much pocket money do you get?
▪ government/taxpayers'/public money
More taxpayer’s money should be spent on the railways.
■ phrases
▪ a sum of money ( also an amount of money )
£10,000 seemed a huge sum of money to me.
▪ be a waste of money
Fancy clothes for a baby are a waste of money.
▪ be value for money British English (=used when saying that something is worth the amount of money you pay for it)
The holiday was excellent value for money.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' gain money '. Say make money .
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ money what you use to buy things, in the form of notes or coins:
He spent all his money on computer equipment.
▪ cash money in the form of coins and notes:
I didn’t have any cash with me.
▪ currency the money used in a particular country:
The dollar gained in value against other currencies.
|
a single European currency
▪ change money in the form of coins of low value:
Do you have any small change?
|
a pocketful of loose change
▪ note British English , bill American English a piece of paper money:
a £20 note
|
a $5 bill
▪ coin a flat round piece of metal used as money:
She put some coins in the parking meter.
|
He took a coin out of his pocket.
▪ a ten-pence/50-cent etc piece a coin worth a particular amount