A blank cheque, in its literal sense, is a cheque that has been signed but left with no amount written in, so the person holding it can fill in whatever figure they choose. The phrase is used figuratively to describe being given complete freedom to act, decide, or spend without restriction. If someone is given a blank cheque by their employer, their board, or a partner, it means they have been handed open-ended authority or unlimited funds, with no conditions attached and no need to ask permission first. It can describe money specifically, or more broadly any situation where a person has been trusted to do as they see fit without being held to a fixed plan or budget.
What’s the origin of the phrase ‘blank cheque’?
The phrase grows directly out of ordinary banking practice. A cheque normally has every detail filled in by the person writing it, including the exact sum to be paid. A blank cheque reverses that control: by signing the cheque but leaving the amount empty, the signer hands the recipient the power to decide how much money to take. That practical arrangement, handing someone a document that is already authorised but has had its limit left open, is the obvious source of the figurative sense, in which a blank cheque means total discretion rather than cash in hand.
As for when the figurative sense first appeared in print, no early record has been traced. The dictionary entry we cite records the literal banking meaning but offers no dated first citation for the metaphorical use, so the honest position is that the date of the shift from banking document to figure of speech is simply not established.
What can be said is how the figurative sense behaves. The phrase is commonly heard in business and political contexts, where a manager, government, or backer is said to hand someone a blank cheque when they agree in advance to support a plan whatever it ends up costing, or to back a decision whatever shape it eventually takes. It is often used with a note of caution, since a blank cheque implies trust that may or may not be well placed, and the image works precisely because everyone understands what an ordinary, filled-in cheque is supposed to look like.