Meaning & use
cashier
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person whose job is to receive payments and give change or receipts in a shop, bank, restaurant, or other business.
Grammar: Countable with plural cashiers; common compounds: bank cashier, checkout cashier.
Patterns
- pay the cashier
- a bank cashier
- a checkout cashier
- head cashier
Pay the cashier at the front desk.
The bank cashier checked my signature twice.
A cashier counted the till at closing time.
verbtransitiveformalmilitary
To dismiss someone from a position, especially from the armed forces, for misconduct or disgrace.
Grammar: Takes an object and is usually passive in modern use: was cashiered for fraud. Formal.
Patterns
- cashier an officer
- be cashiered for misconduct
- cashiered from the army
The officer was cashiered for selling supplies.
He was cashiered from the service after the inquiry.
The company cashiered its director following the audit.
Word forms
| plural | cashiers |
|---|---|
| third person singular | cashiers |
| past tense | cashiered |
| past participle | cashiered |
| -ing form | cashiering |
Common combinations
- pay the cashier
- Please pay the cashier before leaving the cafeteria.
- bank cashier
- The bank cashier helped her deposit a check.
- checkout cashier
- The checkout cashier scanned the last items slowly.
- head cashier
- The head cashier reconciled the registers every night.
- cashiered for misconduct
- He was cashiered for misconduct after the hearing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- teller
- A bank employee who handles customers' money; common in American English and narrower than cashier.
- clerk
- A general worker who serves customers or keeps records; cashier specifically handles payment.
- checkout assistant
- British retail term for the person operating a checkout; less formal and not used for banks.
Word family
Commonly confused: cashier or cash? cashier or teller?
cashier vs cash
Cash is money; a cashier is the person or machine handling payment. As a verb, cashier means formally dismiss, not handle cash.
cashier vs teller
In American banks the payment handler is often a teller; a cashier is broader and can work in shops, theaters, and banks.
Practice
Choose the best word: After the court-martial, the officer was ___ for misconduct.
Choose one answer.
Cashiered is the past participle meaning formally dismissed for misconduct, fitting court-martial. Hired, promoted, and commended are positive outcomes and contradict the context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cashier”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.