honor system
nounDefinition of honor system
: a system (as at a college) whereby persons are trusted to abide by the regulations (as for a code of conduct) without supervision or surveillance
Examples of honor system in a Sentence
Customers are on the honor system to pay for any software they choose to purchase.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Boston Globe reports that customers could pay on the honor system at her farm stand. — USA TODAY, "Charlottesville remembered, drive-thru ban, ketchup karma: News from around our 50 states," 13 Aug. 2019 Murphy’s surge in offensive production since his early-season finger injury healed has Bases For Pride rolling in the donations, which Stephens said are done on the honor system by each pledger. — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, "Bases For Pride: Daniel Murphy’s offensive production turns into donations to LGBTQ community," 11 Aug. 2019 Parent visits, once welcomed on the honor system or with sign-in sheets, are now subject to electronic instant background checks. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Back to school checklist: lunchbox, backpack, security systems," 9 Aug. 2019 Safety requirements for rentable scooters are based on an honor system. — Ed Leefeldt, CBS News, "Electric scooters are igniting new laws, liability concerns and even "scooter rage"," 2 July 2019 The Order of the Garter was founded by Edward III in 1348 and is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honors system. — Simon Perry, PEOPLE.com, "Kate Middleton Is Elegant in Black-and-White Look to Support Prince William at Order of the Garter," 17 June 2019 So in cities and small towns, a new breed of small community stores are trying things like work training, medical clinics, package-free products, and unstaffed stores on a customer honor system. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Recode Daily: Apple’s path to $1 trillion continues unabated," 1 Aug. 2018 Take a cinematic cruise down the long flat farm roads, cooing at highland cattle and relaxed quarter horses or stop to collect a local farmer’s bounty in exchange for a few dollars in the honor system jar. — Kaitlyn Wylde, Vogue, "What’s So Great About Great Barrington? A Weekend Guide to the Quietly Cool Berkshire Town," 25 Oct. 2018 Unlike wage earners who have their income separately reported to the IRS, business owners are often on the honor system. — Paul Kiel, The Seattle Times, "Hobbled by budget cuts, the IRS brings fewer tax fraud cases," 2 Oct. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'honor system.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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