wallet
Americannoun
-
wallets
plural
-
a flat, folding pocketbook, especially one large enough to hold paper money, credit cards, driver's license, etc., and sometimes having a compartment for coins.
-
Chiefly British. a bag for carrying food, clothing, toilet articles, etc., during a journey; knapsack or rucksack.
noun
-
a small folding case, usually of leather, for holding paper money, documents, etc
-
a bag used to carry tools
-
archaic a rucksack or knapsack
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wallet
1350–1400; Middle English walet < ?
Compare meaning
How does wallet compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
See Examples For:
The defence succeeded in excluding some items - a gun magazine, cell phone, passport, wallet and computer chip, found in Mangione's backpack.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
It said it was too early to know how many people keep using the wallet after the credits run out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Eligible participants can add a driver’s license by downloading the DMV Wallet app or through Apple, Google and Samsung wallet apps and following the prompts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
For shoppers like Mary Porter, the corporate chess match matters less than the immediate relief to her wallet.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
A wallet could be mistaken for a gun.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
![]()
An enthralled audience left opening its collective wallets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
But such is the scale of the heat that people are voting with their wallets - demand for portable air con units is through the roof, regardless of grants and the environment.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Facing stiff competition for market share and looking for relevance, Paze is turning to an unlikely group—the holdouts and technophobes who have so far shunned digital wallets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department had also frozen $130 million held in digital wallets linked to Iran's central bank, hitting a sector that has seen increased activity since the start of the war.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
“You haven’t found any wallets lately, have you? Or gotten any rewards?”
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
![]()
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.