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credit card

credit card

787 1.0
A small plastic card from a bank that lets you buy things now and pay later
  • noun
  • /ˈkrɛdɪt kɑrd/
: tarjeta de crédito
  • I used my credit card to buy a new laptop online.
  • credit card debt
  • credit card numbers
  • credit card bill

No no. No credit cards, no delivery system.

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Examples

  • Half of the respondents admit to not paying off their credit cards in full each month.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Hey, hey, can we put the charge on your credit card? - Yeah.

  • May or may not have left my credit card somewhere tonight.

  • One of the girls finally used a credit card.

  • I have a credit card.

  • Are you carrying a credit card balance month after month?

  • For instance, 55 percent of parents roll over credit card debt each month.

    Academic text (2002)
  • If you don't have a credit card yet, get a credit card.

  • The next day he realizes that his credit card was stolen.

  • Yes, I'm calling because my credit card has been compromised.

Synonyms

card
vscredit card
∞ 1.0

A small rectangular piece of plastic or cardboard for showing identity and for paying

is a financial payment instrument that allows delayed repayment and interest charges
charge card
vscredit card
14 3.2

A card that lets you buy things and must be paid in full each month

allows carried balances and interest rather than requiring full payment monthly
bank card
vscredit card
13 1.4

A plastic card from a bank used to pay without cash and get money from cash machines

is an issuer provided payment tool that lets buyers delay payment and incur interest
plastic
vscredit card
  • Informal
10 2.3

A card from a bank people use to pay instead of cash

is a formal banking tool for buying now and repaying later with interest

How Premium

platinum
  • Specialized
49 4.2
gold
214 1.0
credit card
787 1.0
basic
18 1.0

Surface Forms

credit card singular
credit cards plural

Morphology

credit + card

The compound 'credit card' is fully compositional: 'credit' (a financial lending/charge facility) combined with 'card' (a small payment/ID item) straightforwardly yields a card used to make purchases on credit. This noun+noun construction and its logic are cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'tarjeta de crédito'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Credit card comes from the simple idea that credit means trust that you will pay later, and a card is a small piece of metal or plastic that showed that trust. So a credit card is a small card that lets you 'buy now and pay later'.