earner

English

Etymology

From earn +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nə(ɹ)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

earner (plural earners)

1. One who earns money.
   • 1972 May 14, Il Sung Kim, Kim Il Sung Works (Kim Il Sung Works; 27)‎^[1], Pyongyang, Korea: Foreign Languages Publishing House, Talk to the Delegation of the Japan National Association of Socialist Mayors, page 177:

     Teachers are not simply wage earners who teach students, but revolutionaries bringing up the future builders of socialism. For this reason, we are working hard to help teachers acquire advanced science and technology and to revolutionize and working-classize them.

   • 2020 March 24, Peter Whiteford, Bruce Bradbury, “Your guide to coronavirus payments for the extra million on welfare”, in The Conversation‎^[2]:

     A remaining downside with potentially big unintended consequences is the legislated proposal doesn’t yet adjust the spouse income test, excluding many couples where one earner loses their job and leading to a perverse and undesirable "benefit cliff".

2. (British, Australia) A profitable product or scheme; something that brings in good money.

   Those Japanese radios were a nice little earner: we sold all of them by lunchtime.

Derived terms

• big earner
• dual earner
• middle earner
• nonearner
• wage earner

 

Anagrams

• nearer, re-earn, reearn