cinch

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A simple saddle girth used in Mexico.

   • He found Andy morosely replacing some broken strands in his cinch, and he went straight at the mooted question.
2. 2

   Something that is very easy to do.

   • We thought we had a cinch on getting out by way of this cord and so we followed that.
   • 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.
3. 3

   Something that is obvious or certain to occur

   Something that is obvious or certain to occur; a sure thing.

   • As a matter of fact, from the look of Elmer's shoulder, it wasn't a cinch that he would ever pitch again.
4. ›+ 6 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A firm hold.

      • 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.
   2. 5

      To bring to certain conclusion.

   3. 6

      To tighten down.

      • [Ostriches] also lack the tiny hooks, or barbicels, that cinch feathers together in most other birds.
      • In our tiny 30-foot schooner, the 40-foot (think four stories high) waves looked more like giant mountains hurtling at us. I cinched the straps on my lifejacket a bit tighter and held on for dear life.
   4. 7

      A variety of auction pitch in which a draw to improve the hand is added, and the five of…

      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.

   5. 8

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

   6. 9

      An RCA connector.

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