I. cred ‧ it 1 S2 W2 AC /ˈkredət, ˈkredɪt/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: crédit , from Italian , from Latin creditum 'something given to someone to keep safe, loan' , from credere ; ⇨ ↑ credence ]
1 . DELAYED PAYMENT [uncountable] an arrangement with a shop, bank etc that allows you to buy something and pay for it later
on credit
Most new cars are bought on credit.
The store agreed to let him have credit.
What’s the credit limit on your Visa card?
2 . PRAISE [uncountable] approval or praise that you give to someone for something they have done
credit for
Credit for this win goes to everybody in the team.
They never give Gene any credit for all the extra work he does.
take/claim/deserve etc (the) credit
She deserves credit for trying her best.
to sb’s credit (=used to say that someone has done something good)
To Jamie’s credit, he remained calm.
Credit must go to Fiona for making sure everything ran smoothly.
3 . be a credit to somebody/something ( also do somebody/something credit ) to behave so well or be so successful that your family, team etc are proud of you:
She’s a credit to her profession.
Your children really do you credit.
4 . have something to your credit to have achieved something:
She already has two successful novels to her credit.
5 . in credit if you are in credit, there is money in your bank account:
There are no bank charges if you stay in credit.
6 . the credits [plural] a list of all the people involved in making a film or television programme, which is shown at the beginning or end of it
7 . on the credit side used to talk about the good things about someone or something:
On the credit side, the book is extremely well researched.
8 . (give) credit where credit is due used to say that someone deserves to be praised for the good things they have done
9 . UNIVERSITY [countable] a successfully completed part of a course at a university or college:
I don’t have enough credits to graduate.
10 . AMOUNT OF MONEY [countable] an amount of money that is put into someone’s bank account or added to another amount OPP debit :
The company promised to provide credits to customers who had been charged too much.
11 . TRUE/CORRECT [uncountable] the belief that something is true or correct:
The witness’s story gained credit with the jury.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ buy/get something on credit
They bought all their furniture on credit.
▪ use credit
The survey showed only 15% of people had never used credit.
▪ get/obtain credit (=be allowed to buy something on credit)
The economic situation is making it more difficult for people to get credit.
▪ give/offer credit (=allow customers to buy things on credit)
A business may lose customers if it does not give credit.
▪ refuse somebody credit
You may be refused credit if you have a bad financial record.
■ credit + NOUN
▪ a credit card (=a plastic card that you use to buy things and pay for them later)
Can I pay by credit card?
▪ credit facilities (=the opportunity to buy something on credit)
Credit facilities are available if you are over 18.
▪ a credit agreement (=an arrangement to allow or receive credit)
People sometimes sign credit agreements and then realize they can’t afford the payments.
▪ credit terms (=how much you must pay back and when)
The credit terms were a deposit of £1,000 and two later instalments of £900.
▪ sb’s credit rating (=how likely a bank etc thinks someone is to pay their debts)
If you have a poor credit rating, you will have a hard time getting a mortgage.
▪ a credit risk (=a risk that a bank etc may not get back the money it lends)
Banks first have to assess whether a borrower is a credit risk.
▪ a credit limit (=the most someone can spend using credit)
I have a Visa card with a £1,000 credit limit.
▪ a credit crunch/squeeze (=a situation in which people are not allowed as much credit as before)
Due to a credit squeeze, interest rates rose.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + credit
▪ consumer credit (=the amount of credit used by consumers)
Consumer credit has risen substantially during this period.
▪ interest-free credit (=with no interest added to it)
We offer interest-free credit for up to 50 weeks.
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THESAURUS
▪ loan noun [countable] an amount of money that is borrowed, especially from a bank or company, which you agree to pay back by the end of a period of time:
We took out a loan to buy a new car.
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He is paying back a $50,000 loan.
▪ mortgage noun [countable] a large amount of money that someone borrows from a bank or company to buy a house:
Nick told me the mortgage on his apartment is worth about $90,000.
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Anyone taking out a mortgage should be aware that interest rates can go up at any time.
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It took my parents nearly thirty years to pay off their mortgage.
▪ interest noun [uncountable] money that you pay for borrowing money, especially that you pay every year or every month at a fixed rate:
Credit companies charge huge amounts of interest.
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What’s the interest on the loan?
▪ overdraft noun [countable] British English the amount of money that you owe to bank when you have spent more money than you had in your account:
I left university with no job and a big overdraft.
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20% of the bank’s customers regularly use their overdraft facility.
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You have to pay a fee for unauthorized overdrafts.
▪ debt noun [uncountable and countable] an amount of money that a person or organization owes:
The company now has debts of almost £2 million.
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A lot of the money went towards paying his debts.
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The family were $100,000 in debt (=they owed $100,000) .
▪ credit noun [uncountable] an arrangement with a shop or bank that allows you to buy something and pay for it later:
We bought the furniture on credit.
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He had a credit limit of £7,000.
II. credit 2 AC BrE AmE verb [transitive not in progressive]
1 . to add money to a bank account OPP debit
credit to
The cheque has been credited to your account.
credit with
For some reason my account’s been credited with an extra $76.
2 . credit somebody with (doing) something to believe or admit that someone has a quality, or has done something good:
Do credit me with a little intelligence!
Evans is credited with inventing the system.
3 . be credited to somebody/something if something is credited to someone or something, they have achieved it or are the reason for it:
Much of Manchester United’s success can be credited to their manager.
4 . formal to believe that something is true
difficult/hard/impossible etc to credit
We found his statement hard to credit.