the sinking fund
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Money set aside by the Government for paying off a part of the national debt. This money is "sunk," or with- drawn from circulation, for the bonds pur- chased by it are destroyed.
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 “the sinking fund” mean?
Money set aside by the Government for paying off a part of the national debt. This money is "sunk," or with- drawn from circulation, for the bonds pur- chased by it are destroyed.
Is “the sinking fund” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.