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Definition of "bonus" []

  • Something given or paid in addition to what is usual or expected. (noun)
  • A sum of money or an equivalent given to an employee in addition to the employee's usual compensation. (noun)
  • A sum of money in addition to salary that is given to a professional athlete for signing up with a team. (noun)
  • A subsidy from a government to an industry. (noun)
  • A sum of money paid by a government to a war veteran. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "bonus" in a sentence
  • "Even they must know that the word bonus comes from the Latin, meaning the "good" beyond the line of duty."
  • "Another bonus is being able to change your schedule so you can sleep during the day and work when the sun is turned off."
  • "No matter that you had to plough through 80 pages of the report before encountering the word "bonus", the bleating of the CBI in apparent defeat suggested this was a document with its finger on the popular pulse."