cash in

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

cash in (third-person singular simple present cashes in, present participle cashing in, simple past and past participle cashed in)

1. To exchange for cash.

   The gamblers cashed in their remaining chips at the end of the night.

2. (figurative) To profit from something; to take advantage of an opportunity in order to profit, especially financially.

   Lots of people tried to cash in on that market, but few succeeded.

   • 1970, Richard R. Lingeman, Don't You Know There's a War On? , Putnam, →ISBN, page 16:

     Showman Monte Proser tried to cash in on the boom on a mass basis with his Dance Carnival in Madison Square Garden, where dancers lindy hopped, shagged and fox-trotted to the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Larry Clinton and Charlie Barnett […]

   • 2021 November 24, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 2 - 1 Paris Saint Germain”, in BBC Sport‎:

     For all PSG's attacking riches, it was Manchester City who carried the more concerted threat - with the only concern initially that they could not cash in on their domination.

3. (slang) To die.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:die

   • 1907, Robert Service, “The Cremation of Sam McGee”, in The Spell of The Yukon and Other Verses:

     He turned to me, and "Cap," says he, "I'll cash in this trip, I guess; / And if I do, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request." […]

   • 1974, Charles Bukowski, “Purple as an Iris”, in Erections, ejaculations, exhibitions and general tales of ordinary madness, page 414:

     Well, it all ended up, I lost my privileges for two weeks. But someday before I cash in, I hope to make it in the straw.

Derived terms

• cash in one's chips

Translations

See also

• cash in hand

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “cash in v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Anagrams

• Chains, Chians, Chinas, Cishan, chains, chasin', chinas