2 N‑UNCOUNT [in N , N n] If someone or their bank account is in credit , their bank account has money in it. [mainly BRIT ] □ The idea that I could be charged when I'm in credit makes me very angry. □ Interest is payable on credit balances.
3 VERB When a sum of money is credited to an account, the bank adds that sum of money to the total in the account. □ [be V -ed + to ] She noticed that only $80,000 had been credited to her account. □ [V n + to ] The bank decided to change the way it credited payments to accounts. □ [be V -ed] Interest is calculated daily and credited once a year, on 1 April. [Also V n]
4 N‑COUNT A credit is a sum of money which is added to an account. □ The statement of total debits and credits is known as a balance.
5 N‑COUNT A credit is an amount of money that is given to someone. □ The senator outlined his own tax cut, giving families $350 in tax credits per child.
6 N‑UNCOUNT If you get the credit for something good, people praise you because you are responsible for it, or are thought to be responsible for it. □ It would be wrong for us to take all the credit. □ [+ for ] Some of the credit for her relaxed manner must go to Andy.
7 VERB If people credit someone with an achievement or if it is credited to them, people say or believe that they were responsible for it. □ [V n + with ] The staff are crediting him with having saved Hythe's life. □ [be V -ed + to ] There are 630 words whose first-time use is credited to Milton by the Oxford English Dictionary. [Also V n + to , V + with ]
8 VERB If you credit someone with a quality, you believe or say that they have it. □ [V n + with ] I wonder why you can't credit him with the same generosity of spirit.
9 N‑SING If you say that someone is a credit to someone or something, you mean that their qualities or achievements will make people have a good opinion of the person or thing mentioned. □ [+ to ] He is one of the greatest British players of recent times and is a credit to his profession.
10 N‑COUNT [usu pl] The list of people who helped to make a film, a CD, or a television programme is called the credits .
11 N‑COUNT A credit is a successfully-completed part of a higher education course. At some universities and colleges you need a certain number of credits to be awarded a degree.
12 PHRASE If you say that something does someone credit , you mean that they should be praised or admired because of it. □ You're a nice girl, Lettie, and your kind heart does you credit.
13 PHRASE To give someone credit for a good quality means to believe that they have it. □ [+ for ] Bratbakk had more ability than the media gave him credit for.
14 PHRASE You say on the credit side in order to introduce one or more good things about a situation or person, usually when you have already mentioned the bad things about them. □ On the credit side, he's always been wonderful with his mother.
15 PHRASE If something is to someone's credit , they deserve praise for it. □ She pulled herself together and, to her credit, looked upon life as a positive experience.
16 PHRASE If you already have one or more achievements to your credit , you have achieved them. □ I have twenty novels and countless magazine stories to my credit.
cred|it|able /kre d I təb ə l/
1 ADJ A creditable performance or achievement is of a reasonably high standard. □ They turned out a quite creditable performance.
2 ADJ If you describe someone's actions or aims as creditable , you mean that they are morally good. □ Not a very creditable attitude, I'm afraid.
cre d|it card (credit cards ) N‑COUNT A credit card is a plastic card that you use to buy goods on credit. Compare charge card .
cre d|it crunch N‑SING A credit crunch is a period during which there is a sudden reduction in the amount of money that banks and other lenders have available to lend. [JOURNALISM ] □ The most common argument for cutting interest rates is to prevent a global credit crunch.
cre d|it hour (credit hours ) N‑COUNT A credit hour is a credit that a school or college awards to students who have completed a course of study. [AM ] □ Now he needs only two credit hours to graduate.
cre d|it note (credit notes ) N‑COUNT A credit note is a piece of paper that a shop gives you when you return goods that you have bought from it. It states that you are entitled to take goods of the same value without paying for them. [BRIT ] in AM, use credit slip
credi|tor /kre d I tə r / (creditors ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] Your creditors are the people who you owe money to. □ The company said it would pay in full all its creditors.
cre d|it rat|ing N‑SING Your credit rating is a judgment of how likely you are to pay money back if you borrow it or buy things on credit.
cre d|it slip (credit slips ) N‑COUNT A credit slip is the same as a credit note . [AM ]
cre d|it tra ns|fer (credit transfers )
1 N‑COUNT [oft by N ] A credit transfer is a direct payment of money from one bank account into another. [BRIT ] in AM, use money transfer 2 N‑COUNT If a student has a credit transfer when they change from one school or college to another, their credits are transferred from their old school or college to their new one. [AM ]