cinch

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /sɪntʃ/

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɪntʃ

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Occitan cencha, from Latin cincta, or from Spanish cincha (“a belt or girth”), from Late Latin cingula, from Latin cingulum. Doublet of cingle.

Noun

cinch (plural cinches)

1. A simple saddle girth used in Mexico.
   • 1915, B. M. Bower, The Flying U's Last Stand:

     He found Andy morosely replacing some broken strands in his cinch, and he went straight at the mooted question.

3. (informal) Something that is very easy to do.
   • 1913, Major Archibald Lee Fletcher, Boy Scouts in the Coal Caverns:

     We thought we had a cinch on getting out by way of this cord and so we followed that.

   • 2003, Clive Selwood, All the Moves (but None of the Licks), page 33:

     The job was a snap. I travelled the country averaging a thousand miles a week and, since the previous incumbent had been a lazy bugger, managed to treble the business. It was a cinch.

4. (informal) Something that is obvious or certain to occur; a sure thing.
   • 1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post‎:

     As a matter of fact, from the look of Elmer's shoulder, it wasn't a cinch that he would ever pitch again.

5. (informal) A firm hold.
   • 1916, Gilbert Parker, The World For Sale,:

     You've got the cinch on him. You could send him to quod, and I'd send him there as quick as lightning. I'd hang him, if I could, for what he done to Lil Sarnia.

Synonyms

• (something that is very easy to do): piece of cake, breeze, See also Thesaurus:easy thing
• (something certain to occur): See Thesaurus:sure thing

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

cinch (third-person singular simple present cinches, present participle cinching, simple past and past participle cinched)

1. To bring to certain conclusion.
2. To tighten down.
   • 2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may look goofy, but ostriches are nobody’s fool”, in National Geographic Magazine‎:

     [Ostriches] also lack the tiny hooks, or barbicels, that cinch feathers together in most other birds.

Quotations

• 1911, "I intend to cinch that government business." — Margaret Burnham, The Girl Aviators' Sky Cruise
• 2016, Christopher Kelly, The Pink Bus, Mapple Shade, New Jersey: Lethe Press, page 49:

  "You know I've been thinking about your idea, and I think we should vote for each other," Patrick said, hoping that maybe this would be enough to cinch an actual friendship with Baffi--something that suddenly felt more important to Patrick than anything else in the world.

Derived terms

• cincher

Translations

Etymology 2

Compare senses at etymology 1 (a girth, a tight grip), perhaps suggesting the tactics used in the game; or perhaps from Spanish cinco (“five”), the five spots of the colour of the trump being important cards.

Noun

cinch (plural cinches)

1. (card games) A variety of auction pitch in which a draw to improve the hand is added, and the five of trumps (called "right Pedro") and the five of the same colour (called "left Pedro", and ranking between the five and the four of trumps) are each worth five. Fifty-one points make a game.

Synonyms

• double Pedro
• high five

Verb

cinch (third-person singular simple present cinches, present participle cinching, simple past and past participle cinched)

1. (card games) In the game of cinch, to protect (a trick) by playing a higher trump than the five.

Etymology 3

Uncertain; perhaps from Cinch Connectors, a Chicago-based company producing connectors.

Noun

cinch

1. (chiefly Europe, technology) An RCA connector.

Ladin

Alternative forms

• cin

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin cīnque, from Latin quīnque.

Adjective

cinch

1. five

Noun

cinch m (uncountable)

1. five

Lombard

Etymology

From Old Lombard zinqui, from Vulgar Latin cīnque, from Latin quīnque.

Numeral

cinch

1. Spelling alternative of çinc, five.