ledger

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/ˈlɛdʒər/
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A record for accounts or transactions, with technical extensions for structural supports, flat grave slabs, and bottom-fishing tackle.
Practice using this word in conversation

Examples

  • The inscription on the ledger had faded after centuries of foot traffic.
  • The angler changed to a heavier ledger in the faster current.
  • The company's ledger showed every debit and credit for the quarter.
  • We ledgered with sweetcorn as bait.
  • The carpenter bolted a ledger to the house before hanging the deck joists.

Similar words

marker
bearer
account book
grave slab
support
ledger tackle
support board
use ledger tackle
journal
cover stone

Meanings

Account record

noun
business
neutral
A book, file, or shared digital record where transactions and account balances are posted.

Usage

Use ledger for an accounting record and for digital records that work the same way, including blockchain and distributed-ledger systems.

Examples

  • The company's ledger showed every debit and credit for the quarter.
  • She posted the invoice to the sales ledger.
  • The bank's ledger balance differed from the available balance.
  • The blockchain keeps a public ledger of transactions.
  • Auditors traced the payment through the general ledger.
  • Each department keeps a separate ledger for project costs.
  • The app exports the ledger as a spreadsheet.

Common mistakes

Ledgered is usually wrong outside rare fishing use, and ledger should not replace journal when the first-entry book is meant.
IncorrectCorrect
He ledgered the invoice after lunch. He posted the invoice to the ledger after lunch.
The purchase started in the ledger. The purchase started in the journal and was posted to the ledger.
The ledger balance is always the cash I can spend now. The ledger balance may differ from the available balance.

Similar words

account book
register
books
journal
record
log
accounts
database

Horizontal support

noun
construction
technical
A horizontal board, pole, or framing member fixed to a structure to support joists, scaffold parts, or another load.

Usage

Use ledger or ledger board when the member is attached to a wall, post, or scaffold standard and carries the ends of other pieces.

Examples

  • The carpenter bolted a ledger to the house before hanging the deck joists.
  • A scaffold ledger connected the upright standards.
  • The stair platform rests on a steel ledger.
  • Inspect the ledger for rot before adding new decking.
  • Joist hangers were fixed along the ledger.
  • The plans call for a pressure-treated ledger against the wall.
  • Poor flashing behind the ledger let water into the framing.

Common mistakes

Ledger is not any decorative plank, and light screws or nails should not be described as the normal fastening for a structural ledger.
IncorrectCorrect
The painted trim around the window is a ledger. The painted trim around the window is moulding.
Attach the deck ledger with drywall screws. Attach the deck ledger with structural fasteners.
The freestanding deck has a house ledger. The attached deck has a house ledger.

Similar words

ledger board
support board
ribbon strip
bearer
rail
support
framing member

Flat grave slab

noun
architecture
technical
A flat stone slab, especially one laid horizontally as a grave cover or commemorative marker.

Usage

Use ledger mainly in architectural, church, or monument contexts, often where everyday wording would be ledger stone or grave slab.

Examples

  • A worn ledger covered the old tomb in the nave.
  • The inscription on the ledger had faded after centuries of foot traffic.
  • Workers lifted the cracked ledger from the church floor.
  • The family chose a simple stone ledger for the grave.
  • A brass plaque was set into the ledger.
  • The museum catalog describes the slab as a medieval ledger.
  • Moss had grown around the edges of the ledger.

Common mistakes

Ledger is easy to confuse with ledge, and the stone sense is not the ordinary word for every flat stone.
IncorrectCorrect
She sat on a ledger beside the trail. She sat on a ledge beside the trail.
The kitchen counter is a ledger. The kitchen counter is a stone slab.
The ledger stood upright above the grave. The headstone stood upright above the grave.

Similar words

ledger stone
slab
grave slab
tombstone
marker
cover stone

Bottom-fishing tackle

noun
fishing
technical
A fishing weight or rig that holds bait near the bottom while allowing the line to move freely.

Usage

Use ledger for the British angling tackle used in bottom fishing, not for floats or lures that work in open water.

Examples

  • He tied a ledger so the bait would sit close to the riverbed.
  • The angler changed to a heavier ledger in the faster current.
  • A sliding ledger let the fish take line without feeling the weight.
  • The tackle box held floats, hooks, and several ledgers.
  • Use a light ledger when the lake is calm.
  • The ledger kept the bait below the surface drift.
  • She clipped the ledger above the hook.

Common mistakes

Ledger in fishing is often misspelled leger, and it should not name a float rig.
IncorrectCorrect
He cast a float ledger for surface carp. He cast a float for surface carp.
The ledger kept the bait floating on top. The ledger kept the bait near the bottom.
She packed a ledger to spin for pike. She packed a spinner to fish for pike.

Similar words

sinker
weight
ledger tackle
bottom rig
trace
rig

Fish near the bottom

verb
fishing
technical
To fish with ledger tackle, keeping the bait weighted near the bottom.

Usage

Use ledger as a technical British angling verb for bottom fishing with a weighted rig.

Examples

  • They ledgered for bream near the bridge.
  • He likes to ledger when the fish are feeding on the bottom.
  • We ledgered with sweetcorn as bait.
  • She ledgers from the bank on quiet evenings.
  • The club ledgered through the winter match.
  • Do not ledger in that swim when weed covers the bottom.
  • I learned to ledger on a slow canal.

Common mistakes

Ledgered is valid only in this fishing sense, so it should not be used for entering accounts.
IncorrectCorrect
The accountant ledgered the sale. The accountant posted the sale to the ledger.
We ledgered with a dry fly. We fished with a dry fly.
They ledgered for fish feeding on the surface. They float-fished for fish feeding on the surface.

Similar words

bottom fish
fish on the bottom
use ledger tackle

Usage

Read the field around ledger carefully: finance and technology point to records, building points to a support member, and British angling points to tackle or bottom fishing.

Common mistakes

Ledgered the payment is wrong in accounting, where transactions are posted to a ledger.

Etymology

From Middle English leger or lygger, first meaning a large book that lay in one place, from forms related to lay and lie. The accounting sense developed in the 1500s from the idea of a book kept permanently at hand.

FAQ

What does ledger mean in accounting?

A ledger is the book, file, or database where account entries are posted and balances are kept.

Is a blockchain a ledger?

Yes. A blockchain is a shared digital ledger, usually distributed across many nodes and protected by consensus rules.

What is a ledger in construction?

A construction ledger is a horizontal support member, often a board fixed to a wall so joists or scaffold parts can rest on it.

Does ledger have a stone meaning?

Yes. In architectural and monument language, a ledger can be a flat stone slab, especially one over a grave.

Can ledger be a verb?

Only in a specialized British fishing sense, meaning to fish with ledger tackle. In accounting, entries are posted to a ledger.

Where does ledger come from?

Ledger comes from Middle English words for a large book that lay in one place, which later narrowed to account books and other things laid flat or fixed.

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