foreign exchange

noun

1
: a process of settling accounts or debts between persons residing in different countries
2
: foreign currency or current short-term credit instruments payable in such currency

Examples of foreign exchange in a Sentence

Our country has to export more in order to earn more foreign exchange.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The global proportion of the euro in foreign exchange reserves has held roughly steady for more than a decade, at around a fifth. Jenni Reid, CNBC, 7 July 2025 The company said its organic sales growth (which excludes impacts from foreign exchange, acquisitions and divestitures) would climb 2% – the worst performance in at least seven years. Alexander Coolidge, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025 In foreign exchange markets the U.S. dollar maintained its current downward trajectory, while the euro strengthened. Jim Edwards, Fortune, 1 July 2025 Around half of global trade and almost 90 percent of global foreign exchange transactions are conducted in U.S. dollars, an extraordinary repository of value that affords Washington the luxury of deficit spending that would be outrageous anywhere else. Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for foreign exchange

Word History

First Known Use

1623, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of foreign exchange was in 1623

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Cite this Entry

“Foreign exchange.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreign%20exchange. Accessed 20 Jul. 2025.

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