shekel: Meaning and Definition of

shek•el

1. a paper money, cupronickel or silver coin, and monetary unit of Israel equal to 100 agorot: replaced the pound in 1980.
2. an ancient, orig. Babylonian, unit of weight, of varying value, taken as equal to the fiftieth or the sixtieth part of a mina or to about a quarter to half an ounce.
3. a coin of this weight, esp. the chief silver coin of the ancient Hebrews.
4. money; cash.