Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

licence to print money

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.86 in modern English

Syllables: li-cence -to print- -money
IPA

30

Scrabble Score

19

Letters

5

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see licence, to, print, money.

noun

A means of generating a large income with little effort.

Colloquial

Example Sentences

"Owning a machine tool plant, it was said, was almost as good as a license to print money."
"the rather casual remark of Lord Thomson, referring to his holding in Scottish Television, that the television contract was 'a licence to print money' was much quoted"
"More competition means ITV's glory days are long gone - and the new company's bosses know they will have to fight hard to regain the old licence to print money."

Etymology

Often attributed to Lew Grade, and notably used by Roy Thompson of Scottish Television around 1956.

Usage

Colloquial

Inflected Forms

licences to print money (plural) license to print money (alternative)

Phrases

print money laughing all the way to the bank

Frequently Paired Words

print money laughing all the way to the bank

Questions

What does licence to print money mean?: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see licence, to, print, money.
Where does licence to print money come from?: Often attributed to Lew Grade, and notably used by Roy Thompson of Scottish Television around 1956.

How to pronounce licence to print money

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