under the table
Off the books
Under the table describes payments or dealings conducted secretly to avoid taxes, regulations, or official notice.
Workers paid under the table receive cash with no tax withholding or paper trail: She was paid under the table, so she had no pay stubs to show the landlord.
The phrase suggests something hidden from view, like hands passing money beneath a table.
It can also describe someone who's drunk to the point of collapse: He drank us all under the table.
- off-the-booksUnrecorded for tax purposes
- cash in handPhysical currency possessed now
- briberyCorrupt payment for influence
- hush moneyPayment to ensure secrecy
- kickbackIllegal payment for services
brown envelope · double-dealing · back room deal · wink wink · corruption · dirty money · tax evasion · palm-greasing · hidden · black market · underhandedness · funny money · crumbs · slip · gum · dust · illicit trade · sub rosa
- underground economyblack market, shadow economy, cash in hand, off the books, unreported income
- extra incomeside hustle, side job, freelancing, gig work, moonlighting
- criminal schemesconspiracy, collusion, racketeering, kickback scheme, assassination plot
- Drinking Slangdrunk, wasted, hammered, plastered, smashed
- drunk slangdrunk, wasted, hammered, smashed, plastered
- drunkennessdrunk, tipsy, buzzed, intoxicated, inebriated
under the tablelegitimate
Conforming to accepted standards
above board · on the books · legal · declared · by the book
under the tableout in the open
Visible to everyone
aboveboard · transparent · overt · in plain sight · in the open
under the tableon the record
Openly stated, quotable
documented · on the books · reported · filed · registered
table, under, tables, underneath, undertaking, undertake, tableware, tabled, undertaken