receipt
Americannoun
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a written acknowledgment of having received, or taken into one's possession, a specified amount of money, goods, etc.
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receipts, the amount or quantity received.
Economic austerity diminished the government’s tax receipts.
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the act of receiving or the state of being received.
We are in receipt of your letter requesting a copy of the report.
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something that is received.
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Slang. receipts, evidence or proof.
There's no way he's a crook—show me the receipts!
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Archaic. recipe.
verb (used with object)
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to acknowledge in writing the payment of (a bill).
The check was dated January 9, and the invoice was receipted on January 15.
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to give a receipt for (money, goods, etc.).
verb (used without object)
noun
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a written acknowledgment by a receiver of money, goods, etc, that payment or delivery has been made
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the act of receiving or fact of being received
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(usually plural) an amount or article received
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archaic another word for recipe
verb
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(tr) to acknowledge payment of (a bill), as by marking it
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to issue a receipt for (money, goods, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of receipt
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English receite, receyt, from Anglo-French, from Old French recete, reçoite, recoite or directly from Medieval Latin recepta “money received, receipt, recipe,” feminine past participle of recipere “to receive,” from Latin; see origin at receive
Explanation
You know that slim, white piece of paper the grocery store clerk gives you that lists everything you bought, how much you paid, and the change you received? That's a receipt. A receipt is proof you bought and paid for something. At most stores, you need it if you're going to return what you bought. People collect receipts on business trips, so their employers will pay them back for what they purchased while away. Less commonly, receipt can be used as a verb, as in, "The clerk receipted my purchases," meaning that the clerk gave written proof that the items were paid for.
Vocabulary lists containing receipt
The Silent Treatment: Words Plagued by Silent Letters
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List 8
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 1–May 7, 2021
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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.
“I needed the receipt stamped weekly,” Pratt wrote, “like a parking validation, just to make sure it stuck.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2026
On an adjusted basis, it lost 9 cents per American depository receipt.
From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026
So far NYU Langone Health is the only hospital system to publicly disclose its receipt of the subpoena, done in compliance with New York’s shield law that requires disclosure within 30 days.
From Salon • May 22, 2026
Research by retail analysts TCC Global found most shoppers are signed up to four or five loyalty schemes, and Shuttleworth says people focus mostly on the final price on their receipt.
From BBC • May 10, 2026
She cottoned on to this—as the story has it, when she found a receipt: “To one castle” in the waste paper basket; the story, I suspect, has grown fondly in the telling—and confronted him.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
