Home UK English debit

Meaning of debit in English:

debit

Pronunciation /ˈdɛbɪt/

Translate debit into Spanish

noun

  • 1An entry recording a sum owed, listed on the left-hand side or column of an account.

    The opposite of credit

    ‘a double-entry system of bookkeeping, where each debit has a corresponding credit entry’
    • ‘As such, a deficit may be a result of the claims foreigners have on the local economy (recorded as a debit in the current account).’
    • ‘The opposite is true when a country receives capital: paying a return on a said investment would be noted as a debit in the current account.’
    • ‘The second section was the ledger, consisting of all accounts and their debit and credit entries.’
    • ‘Alternatively, the page was divided into two columns for recording debits and credits.’
    • ‘To be a player in this electronic financial landscape, one just has to borrow and lend money in the markets - create a balance sheet of entries on the vast electronic ledger of debits and credits.’
    • ‘On the contrary, these are among the most lamentable debits on the balance sheet of empire.’
    • ‘Prior to the switch, the narrative of the account often reported the amounts in dollars while the debit and credit entries would continue using British currency.’
    • ‘Instead, they saw, and only infrequently, the madam's account book, listing debits and credits, with the larger totals in the debit column.’
    • ‘Consequently, the coal account registered, on its debit side, production expenses and, in a later phase, also the general expenses and selling expenses.’
    • ‘By the time of the forfeiture in August 1995 Mr Jaura had an overdraft of £3,125 and a debit on his loan account of some £45,000.’
    • ‘The debit entries from a page in Cottin's account book have been translated in Table 2.’
    • ‘The sawmill ledger included a chair account containing a few debits and numerous credits for various types of chairs, likely fashioned from the sawmill's output.’
    • ‘This is not a formal accounting journal with debits and credits.’
    • ‘The point is that accounting is not as simple as debits and credits.’
    • ‘The debit column in Boroughmuir's ledger has a few entries this morning, but there is nothing there to suggest they are near bankrupt.’
    • ‘Mr Shaw agreed that, if the solicitor did not post such a debit to the office side of the ledger, there would be a credit balance on the office side of the ledger.’
    • ‘The small debit left on the account was cancelled as an ‘out trade resolution’.’
    • ‘A deficit could also stem from a rise in investments from abroad and increased obligations by the local economy to pay investment income (a debit under income in the current account).’
    • ‘As is now done, debits were recorded on the left page and credits on the right one.’
    • ‘The other reports deal with accounts that have negative equity - that is, the debit in the account exceeds the market value of the securities held in the account.’
    bill, account, tally, financial obligation, outstanding payment, amount due, money owing
    1. 1.1A payment made or owed.
      ‘a further debit of £21 6s 6d had been received from the Locomotive Department’
      • ‘Make sure all charges are for items you bought and all withdrawals from your account are for checks or debits you made.’
      • ‘Another aspect of the growth in electronic delivery channels has been the sharp growth in direct entry (both debits and credits) and the decline in the use of cheques.’
      • ‘Before we know what has happened, the transaction trail starts to get out of hand and scores of debits and credits are going through our account on an almost weekly basis.’
      • ‘Personal checks and automatic debits for monthly bills are a novelty.’
      • ‘Not only do you now have a substantial monthly debit from your account, you also have to consider associated costs, furniture and, of course, bills.’
      • ‘Additionally, the bank would have to override and remove any bounced check fees or other debits from affected accounts caused by the error.’
      • ‘No interest is charged or paid on debits or credits… Members call up the services they require or visit shops and business in the system…’
      • ‘Her case has been that all debits to the Joint Account in excess of the £200,000 limit fixed by the 1988 Facility are unenforceable against her except insofar as they represent interest on borrowing up to that limit.’
      • ‘Both of the debits set up on my account were for ca. £32-smallish sums that could go unnoticed in the sea of transactions.’
      • ‘On the two occasions when I have had irregularities with the use of my ATM card (both involving a debit to my account when I had not in fact received cash from the ATM), I went to the banks involved.’
      • ‘I never pick up on those small debits, you know - referral items and standing order charges.’
      • ‘As his business is largely cash-based, he doesn't write a lot of cheques or have many debits and credits.’
      • ‘However, students with PTSB accounts pay no quarterly account fees and no fees on ATM and Laser transactions, cheque debits, counter lodgements and withdrawals.’
      • ‘It has to do with accounting for debits and credits within the tax system which Parliament has mandated.’
      • ‘Although the card-holder reported the matter promptly on both occasions, the bank allowed the debits recorded by the terminal to stand.’
      financial obligation, debt, indebtedness, debit

verbdebits, debiting, debited

[with object]

  • 1(of a bank or other financial organization) remove (an amount of money) from a customer's account.

    ‘$10,000 was debited from their account’
    • ‘As well as using the credit card to obtain goods or services, the card-holder may obtain cash by the use of the card but he is then charged interest from the date the amount is debited from his account with the issuer.’
    • ‘My bank incorrectly debits a transfer twice from my account, sending me massively overdrawn and making my account unusable for days.’
    • ‘Because the money is debited from your account within two to three days of the transaction, the consumer has a better idea of where they stand at the end of the month, said O'Reilly.’
    • ‘However, no such amount was ever credited to the Guardian's Fund and Poswa's bank account shows that no such amount was ever debited from it.’
    • ‘It automatically debits the children's allowance monthly payment to its Childcare deposit account.’
    • ‘Another reader realised that a three-year personal loan which had matured, continued to be debited directly from his account for a further 12 months.’
    • ‘But enough transactions were made for more than US $3.5 m to be debited from current accounts, mostly through unsigned paper cheques.’
    • ‘Around 500 residents have been contacted by letter explaining that the computer fault had stopped money being debited from bank accounts and asking them to make a direct payment.’
    • ‘Some time afterwards he discovered that money was being debited from his bank account.’
    • ‘I pay several bills using standing orders, yet these payments reach their recipients up to five working days after being debited from my account.’
    • ‘If you fail to make your payment by the stated deadline, the fee is generally debited from your retirement account.’
    • ‘Big-brother style, money is automatically debited from Singaporeans' bank accounts if they drive into town in an unauthorised vehicle.’
    • ‘Because checks before money is debited from your account can be minimal at times, it is possible for a criminal to ‘clone’, that is copy, your card and use that as if it you were using it yourself.’
    • ‘The taxpayer's bank account details are inserted on the form, together with confirmation of the total amount of tax to be debited.’
    • ‘Cheques altered in this way must not be accepted in payment as they will either be returned unpaid or could result in the wrong value being credited to or debited from an account.’
    • ‘The entire monthly balance is automatically debited from your bank account on a pre-arranged date.’
    • ‘On both systems payment will then automatically be debited from bank or credit card accounts.’
    • ‘I am trying to determine whether it is possible for my Cable & Wireless bill to be automatically debited from my account every month.’
    • ‘It informed me that it had debited the suggested lower amount from my credit card only because it had received legal advice that it would cost more to recover the entire debt than simply to accept the loss.’
    • ‘Many lenders offer a quarter-point reduction for borrowers who agree to have payments automatically debited from their bank accounts.’
    take away, take from, take off, deduct, debit, abstract, discount, dock, remove, withdraw
    1. 1.1Remove an amount of money from (a bank account)
      ‘cash terminals automatically debit a customer's bank account’
      • ‘The fact that a substantial amount of Irish people do not actually have a bank account, however, is a major obstacle, as Laser cards work by debiting a person's account for the appropriate amount when they make a purchase.’
      • ‘One account is debited for the amount involved in any transaction and another account is credited.’
      • ‘So the legal point of phantom withdrawals hinged on the question: if a PIN is typed into an ATM with a card that matches an account number, is that a mandate by the customer for the bank to debit their account?’
      • ‘A common instance is the forged cheque which, however expertly done, does not entitle the bank to debit a customer's account.’
      • ‘Although I gave them carte blanche for automatically debiting my bank account every month for the amount I owed them, they simply ‘forgot’ to do that for the past six months.’
      • ‘Mr Ryan said the practice also debited clients' accounts for legal work without sending them the bill as the rules required.’
      • ‘The Liquidator claims that the bank wrongfully and without authority debited the company's account with that sum.’
      • ‘We will debit your account as we find appropriate.’
      • ‘Once you sign up, your account will be debited automatically every month, unless you cancel immediately.’
      • ‘So, the bank provided him with fire cover through its own insurance and also debited his account for the monthly premiums, but without first discussing it with him.’
      • ‘When you leave, you get a copy of your account and your card is debited automatically.’
      • ‘In a valid cheque the instrument must have the customer's signature: a forged cheque is not a valid mandate, and the bank cannot debit the customer's account.’
      • ‘A company which monitored the Company's machines would arrange for the customer's bank account to be debited by the amount of the withdrawal plus a $2.00 service charge.’
      • ‘Approaching the toll bridges, electronic sensors read the tags, debit the customer's account with the toll fee and automatically lift the barriers.’
      • ‘The malicious emails - normally a fake order confirmation for an IBM Laptop PC - told the recipient that their bank account has been debited for £1,099.99 and provides a link to check or cancel the order.’
      • ‘I was told this could not be done until November, and was then dismayed to find the company had debited my bank account for the following year, using an out-of-date debit card.’
      • ‘A call to Freecall's support line revealed that I was one of the lucky recipients of the company's new zero minutes a month package, for which Freecall had debited my bank account by £19.99 just two days earlier.’
      • ‘The recipient would receive money in a new account, and PayPal would debit the sender's credit card or bank account.’
      • ‘They were also having their accounts debited for short message services despite the messages not reaching their destinations.’
      • ‘Bingo, your credit card or bank account will automatically be debited and you can toddle off with your shopping.’

Phrases

    the debit side

    • The unsatisfactory aspect of a situation.

      ‘on the debit side, they predict a rise in book prices’
      • ‘It is fitting to talk of the credit side and the debit side of his reign.’
      • ‘On the debit side: declining markets, infrastructure out of tune with modern world, ageing personnel, declining motivation levels among junior staff, inability to respond creatively to the demands of a changing market.’
      • ‘On the debit side, commitments elsewhere mean that Dravid, who has scored 6452 runs in one-day internationals and 5614 in tests, will miss the first three or four weeks of the new season.’
      • ‘I realized this had the makings of a transcendent adolescent moment - which, on the debit side, was being experienced in the company of my mother.’
      • ‘On the debit side, I find the new smaller script hard to read.’
      • ‘On the debit side, it is over two years since he last won a race, so he may not be one to rely on implicitly, but he certainly deserves a chance to shine here.’
      • ‘On the debit side, Butler received his fifth booking of the season and will serve an automatic one-match ban.’
      • ‘On the debit side, some may find a little too much repetition, as when the origin of the term ‘suffragette’ is explained twice within a few pages.’
      • ‘On the debit side, a number of discrepancies detract from an otherwise riveting biography.’
      • ‘On the debit side this is not one for the ‘instant’ gardener, it definitely won't flower until the second year after planting and may take even longer if you plant them too deep.’
    be in debit

    • (of an account) show a net balance of money owed to others.

      ‘the account is only 120 francs in debit’
      • ‘If the customer's account is in debit, the increase of the amount of the overdraft by the interest charged does not, in reality, discharge a liability.’
      • ‘Alnor's account, on the other hand, was in debit to the extent of about US $2.8 million and the combined margin account was in debit even after taking into account Profilati's credit position.’
      • ‘I explained that if I don't have enough money in the account, then I can't get the money out, how can it possibly be in debit?’
      • ‘When the payment was posted to the accounts of Dunnes Stores Ireland it was in debit, as there was no corresponding asset.’
      • ‘At best, the customer owes the bank a duty of care; but this duty is in existence regardless of whether the account is in credit or in debit.’
      • ‘Imagine my shock when I went to check my balance to find it nearly $60 in debit!’

Origin

Late Middle English (in the sense ‘debt’): from French débit, from Latin debitum ‘something owed’ (see debt). The verb sense dates from the 17th century; the current noun sense from the late 18th century.