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Glite Dictionary
common purse

common purse

4.2
Shared money that people in a group use to pay for things together
  • noun
translation icon : caja común
  • After an open meeting and then with their common purse, they hired a lawyer to bring a case to try to prevent the enclosure When a riot came.
  • kept the common purse

Examples

  • In a cooperative living arrangement, all members contribute to a common purse to cover shared expenses.

  • 14 Throw your lot in with us, and we will all have a common purse.

    Blog text (26)

  • In American society, maintaining a common purse/account is usually restricted to just the immediate family members.

    Academic text (1997)

  • I didn't go on a carouse with my Will Kempe that day because, from our common purse, I had to take care he didn't squander too much of our money.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I kept the common purse for both myself and my Will Kempe, but only because my Will was such a shikker who loved carousing, we wouldn't have any money to buy meats or clothes or hire lodgings if I didn't keep close to me our common purse.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I kept the common purse for both myself and my Will Kempe, but only because my Will was such a shikker who loved carousing, we wouldn't have any money to buy meats or clothes or hire lodgings if I didn't keep close to me our common purse.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The organization decided to establish a common purse to fund community projects and events.

  • When the village formed a cooperative, they agreed to pool their money in a common purse for mutual benefit.

Synonyms

pool
vscommon purse
360 3.4

A group of people or companies who share resources for a common goal

is limited to money shared by group members for mutual expenses
purse
vscommon purse
61 4.3

A sum of money given as a prize or for a specific purpose

is money shared among group members for mutual expenses or projects

How Much

treasury
26 5.3
endowment
  • Formal
67 6.5
to fund
576 3.0
common purse
4.2
kitty
22 4.9

Surface Forms

common purse singular
common purses plural

Morphology

common + purse

The meaning is directly derivable from 'common' (shared) + 'purse' (a sum of money or fund), so the phrase denotes funds held or used jointly. This ADJ+NOUN composition follows a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Common purse creates a simple picture: the word common means shared and a single purse holds the group's money. That's why common purse means 'money shared by a group' to pay for things like food or bills.