# Oyster card

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A contactless smart card, introduced in 2003, used to pay for public transport in the Greater London area.

## Etymology
A marketing coinage; influences are said to include the security and value of the oyster's shell and pearl, the oyster beds of London's Thames estuary, and the popular idiom the world is one's oyster.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/oyster-card