pound
noun /paʊnd/
/paʊnd/
Idioms - [countable](also specialist pound sterling)(symbol £)the unit of money in the UK, worth 100 pence
- a ten-pound note
- a pound coin
- I've spent £25 on food today.
- What would you do if you won a million pounds?
- Total losses were estimated at over three million pounds.
- The blaze caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.
- He built the business into a multi-million pound food empire.
Culture moneymoneyThe US dollar is made up of 100 cents. The Department of the Treasury prints bills (= paper money) in various denominations (= values): $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. US bills are all the same size, whatever their value, and measure about 2.5×6 inches/6.5×15.5 centimetres. All are green and on the front, each has a picture of a famous American. The dollar bill, for instance, shows George Washington, the first US president. An informal name for dollars is bucks, because in the early period of US history people traded the skins of bucks (= deer) and prices would sometimes be given as a number of buckskins. Buck refers to the dollar itself, and not to the bill. So although you can say 'He earns 500 bucks a week', you have to say ‘If I give you four quarters could you give me a dollar (bill)?’The Treasury also makes US coins: pennies which are worth .01 of a dollar, nickels (.05), dimes (.10) and quarters (.25). There are also half dollars (.50) and silver dollars but these are not often seen because the Treasury stopped producing them in 2011. Pennies have a dark brown colour; all the other coins have a silver appearance.When you write an amount in figures the dollar sign ($) goes to the left of the amount and a decimal point (.) is placed between the dollars and the cents. If the amount is less than one dollar, the cent sign (¢) is put after the numbers. So you write $5, $5.62 and 62¢.Britain's currency is the pound sterling, written as £ before a figure. A pound consists of 100 pence, written as p with figures. Pound coins are silver-coloured with a gold edge. They have the Queen's head on one side and a design representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the other. The £2 coin is silver-coloured with a gold edge. Coins of lower value are the silver-coloured 50p, 20p, 10p and 5p pieces, and the copper -coloured 2p and 1p pieces. All are round, except for the £1 coin, which has 12 sides and the 50p and 20p pieces, which have seven sides. Coins are made at the Royal Mint. Banknotes, usually called notes, are made of a type of plastic called polymer or paper. They have the Queen's head on one side and a famous person on the other, and are worth £5, £10, £20 or £50.An informal word for a pound is a quid, a £5 note is a fiver, a £10 note is a tenner. Scottish banknotes have their own designs. They can be used anywhere in Britain, though shops have the right to refuse to accept them. To prevent people forging (= making their own) banknotes, designs are complicated and difficult to copy. To check that a note is genuine, a shop assistant may hold it up to the light to see if it has a narrow silver line running through it or a detailed silver image in a transparent window.The decimal system that is used in Britain replaced the old pounds, shillings and pence in 1971. There were 12 pence or pennies in a shilling, and 20 shillings in a pound. The old coins included the farthing (= a quarter of a penny) and the half-crown (= two shillings and sixpence). There were notes for 10 shillings, £1 and £5.Gold guinea coins were used in the 18th century and were worth 21 shillings. Until 1971 prices were often set in guineas instead of pounds for luxury items, such as antiques and jewellery, for the fees of doctors, lawyers, etc., and at auctions, though the guinea coin had long since gone out of circulation. Some racehorses are still auctioned in guineas.On 1 January 1999 the euro system was introduced in 11 countries of the European Union. Britain chose not to introduce the euro. However, many British businesses have euro bank accounts so as to be able to pay for goods and be paid in euros and a few shops in Britain accept payment in euros.Topics Moneya1 - [countable] the unit of money of several other countries
- His salary will be about 5 000 Egyptian pounds per month.
- the pound[singular] (finance) the value of the British pound compared with the value of the money of other countries
- the strength/weakness of the pound against other currencies
- The pound fell sharply to a record low against the yen.
- The pound closed (= finished the day's trading) slightly down at $1.534.
- a run on the pound (= when many people sell pounds and the value of the pound falls)
- [countable](abbreviation lb)(in Britain and North America) a unit for measuring weight, equal to 0.454 of a kilogram
- half a pound of butter
- They cost two dollars a pound.
- I've lost six and a half pounds since I started my diet.
- a bronze sculpture weighing 7,000 pounds
- They sell organic black soybeans in 25-pound bags.
- The couch potato lifestyle is causing many people to pile on the pounds (= gain weight).
- She has shed 30 pounds.
- [countable] a place where vehicles that have been parked illegally are kept until their owners pay to get them back
- [countable] a place where dogs that have been found in the street without their owners are kept until their owners claim them
money
weight
for cars
for dogs
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 4 Old English pund, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch pond and German Pfund, from Latin (libra) pondo, denoting a Roman “pound weight” of 12 ounces. noun senses 5 to 6 late Middle English (earlier in compounds): of uncertain origin. Early use referred to an enclosure for holding stray or trespassing cattle.
Idioms
in for a penny, in for a pound
- (saying) used to say that since you have started to do something, it is worth spending as much time or money as you need to in order to complete it
an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure (US English)
(British English prevention is better than cure)
- (saying) it is better to stop something bad from happening rather than try to deal with the problems after it has happened
(have, get, want, etc.) your pound of flesh
- the full amount that somebody owes you, even if this will cause them trouble or difficulty
- You’re determined to have your pound of flesh, aren’t you?