a sum of money set aside for use in an emergency or to cover unforeseen expenses
contingency reserve in American English
noun
Accounting
an amount of money established from retained earnings to allow for unforeseen losses in business
Also: contingent reserve
Word origin
[1930–35]This word is first recorded in the period 1930–35. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: acoustic phonetics, boondoggle, saddle stitch, technical foul, uncertainty principle
Examples of 'contingency reserve' in a sentence
contingency reserve
Paying for it used up the country's entire contingency reserve.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
In 1997-98, the first year the government recorded a surplus after years of mounting deficits, it took about $1-million from the contingency reserve.