cinch
nounverbnounverbnounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//sɪntʃ//
A simple saddle girth used in Mexico.
noun
- 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
informalSomething 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.
Suddenly, being a mom was everything it was advertised to be. Zelly settled into being such a happy, well-behaved infant that she became what Shannon calls a “decoy baby”—the kind that tricks other young couples into thinking that having kids is a cinch.
- 3
informalSomething 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
informalA 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.
Etymology
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.
verb
- 1
To bring to certain conclusion.
- 2
To tighten down.
He let Sandy stand for a minute and then took the saddle off. Several more of these saddlings and unsaddlings followed. Then finally the saddle was cinched. Again Sandy repeated his pattern of calming down after the first unfamiliarity of a new experience had worn off. […] Before long Sandy accepted the saddle as if he’d been born with one on his back.
[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.
noun
- 1
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.
Etymology
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.
verb
- 1
In the game of cinch, to protect (a trick) by playing a higher trump than the five.
noun
- 1
An RCA connector.
Etymology
Uncertain; perhaps from Cinch Connectors, a Chicago-based company producing connectors.
Forms
- plural
- cinches
- past tense
- cinched
- past participle
- cinched
- present participle
- cinching
- third person singular
- cinches