stash

Etymology

It is of unknown origin.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} Etymonline suggests that it was perhaps prompted by stow and cache,^[9] and Dictionary.com takes it as a blend of stow and cache;^[10] Weekley thought it was perhaps coined on stow and squash,^[11] and Green's Dictionary of Slang suggests stop, stow or squash combined with French cacher (“to hide”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To stop, put an end to or desist from something: 1794, in the Sessions Papers ("Miller, it is, stash, I am satisfied").^{[2][6][12][4]}

Semantic evolution

The sense "to conceal, put away for later" followed in 1797, in Potter's New Dictionary of Cant and Flash, as criminals' slang;^[2][9][6] the OED notes that the word was revived in modern use in the United States.^[2] The older sense survived in phrases such as stash it!, stop it, and stash the glim, put out the light,^[2][12] and in the dialects of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Middlesex, Essex, Kent, the Isle of Wight and Cornwall.^[13] In Australia to stash could mean to leave a place (1888).^[12][13] The noun, a thing or collection of things stashed away, appears in 1914 in Jackson and Hellyer's Vocabulary of Criminal Slang;^{[2][9][6][12]} it meant a hiding place or hideout from 1927 and a supply of drugs from 1942,^[2][9] and since 1981 also a crafter's hoard of fabric, yarn and other supplies.^[2]

Timeline

• 1794 – to stop, desist from.^[2][6]
• 1797 – to conceal, put away, in criminals' slang.^[2][9]
• 1888 – Australian, to leave a place.^[12]
• 1914 – noun, something hidden away, a hoard.^[2][6]
• 1927 – noun, a hiding place, a hideout.^[2]
• 1942 – noun, a cache or supply of drugs.^[2][9]
• 1981 – noun, a collection of craft supplies.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put money or other things in a secret or safe place for later use, often with away: They stashed the cash under a floorboard.^[7][4][2]
2. (chiefly British, slang) To stop or give up something, as in stash it, stop it.^[4][2][5]

Noun

1. A secret store of something; a hoard or cache.^[7][4][2]
2. (slang) A supply of an illegal drug, especially one kept for personal use.^[7][2][4]
3. A hiding place.^[4][2][7]
4. A person's collection of fabric, yarn or other craft supplies kept for future projects.^[2]

Related words

• stow
• cache

Usage notes

A separate noun stash, a moustache, recorded from 1940, is a clipping of moustache.^[2][5][12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c d e f g Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)