endorsement in blank
- noun
- /ɪnˈdɔrsmənt ɪn blæŋk/
- Formal
:
endoso en blanco
- An endorsement in blank allows anyone holding the check to cash it without needing a specified payee.
Examples
-
An endorsement in blank suggests that whoever happens to have snatched up the paper can put their name in the blank, essentially, and cash it, even though it's not written to them.
Blog text (8) -
Another newish thing is all of the "Notes" (or photocopies of notes which have been forged) showing up with endorsements in blank.
Blog text (8) -
When the investor signed the check with an endorsement in blank, it became payable to the bearer.
-
After receiving the check, she made an endorsement in blank, letting anyone who found it cash it.
Synonyms
A signature on the back of a check that lets anyone holding it cash or deposit it
Surface Forms
Morphology
endorsement + in + blank
The constituents 'endorsement' (a signature) and 'blank' (empty/unspecified) give a learner some intuitive sense that this is a signature left without naming a payee, so part of the meaning is inferable. However, the precise legal consequence — that the instrument becomes payable to the bearer — is specialized and not deducible from everyday usage, making the expression only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Endorsement in blank comes from signing the back of a check or note and leaving the payee line empty, so the endorsement sits on a blank space. Because no name is written, the paper becomes 'payable to whoever holds it', which is why an endorsement in blank lets anyone who holds the note collect the money.
