clearing house
Preserved but no longer current.
The office or house where bankers do their "clearing," that is, the exchanging of bills and cheques and the pay- ment of balances, etc. Also, the house where the business of dividing among the different railway companies the proceeds of traffic passing over several lines for one covering payment was earned through. In London, the bankers' clearing house has been in Lombard Street since 1775.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “clearing house” mean?
The office or house where bankers do their "clearing," that is, the exchanging of bills and cheques and the pay- ment of balances, etc. Also, the house where the business of dividing among the different railway companies the proceeds of traffic passing over several lines for one covering payment was earned through. In London, the bankers' clearing house has been in Lombard Street since 1775.
Is “clearing house” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.