cinch

[ sinch ]

/ sɪntʃ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cinch ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a strong girth used on stock saddles, having a ring at each end to which a strap running from the saddle is secured.

a firm hold or tight grip.

Informal.

something sure or easy: This problem is a cinch.
a person or thing certain to fulfill an expectation, especially a team or contestant certain to win a sporting event: The Giants are a cinch to win Sunday's game.

verb (used with object)

to gird with a cinch; gird or bind firmly.

Informal. to seize on or make sure of; guarantee: Ability and hard work cinched her success.

RELATED WORDS

cakewalk, snap, breeze

Nearby words

Origin of cinch

1855–60, Americanism; < Spanish cincha < Latin cingula girth, equivalent to cing(ere) to gird + -ula -ule

cinch

[ sinch ]

/ sɪntʃ /

noun Cards.

a variety of the game all fours.

Origin of cinch

1885–90; perhaps < Spanish cinco five, a card game

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cinch

And, thanks to a transparent hull, exploring the deep and spotting rare marine life is practically a cinch.
The Most Exciting New Hotels, Restaurants, and Submarines of 2014|Charlie Gilbert|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cinch an Inch…Or Seven But are waist cinchers the secret to a smaller waist?
Waist Training: Can You Cinch Your Waist Thin?|DailyBurn|July 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cinch the waist, tighten the tummy, raise the rear, there is a shape shifter designed for every job.
My Nuclear Knickers and Other Aging Secrets|Laura Bennett|October 28, 2008|DAILY BEAST
The historical record suggests it should cinch the contest for the Democrats.
Obama's Panic Problem|Sean Wilentz|October 5, 2008|DAILY BEAST

It would be a cinch to rig up a flashlight bulb and battery inside one.
The Blue Ghost Mystery|Harold Leland Goodwin
Sitting erect, he observed a cinch strap of blackbirds over the stable roof where the eucalyptus had crashed.
When the Owl Cries|Paul Bartlett
And when the cinch was drawn tight he fought at being mounted.
Under Handicap|Jackson Gregory
The Arado, as he had rightly guessed, was a cinch to handle.
Dave Dawson at Dunkirk|Robert Sydney Bowen
Sure, to be the janitor of an apartment house is no cinch at all, at all.
The White Christmas and other Merry Christmas Plays|Walter Ben Hare

British Dictionary definitions for cinch

cinch

/ (sɪntʃ) /

noun

slang an easy task

slang a certainty

US and Canadian a band around a horse's belly to keep the saddle in positionAlso called (in Britain and certain other countries): girth

informal a firm grip

verb

(often foll by up) US and Canadian to fasten a girth around (a horse)

(tr) informal to make sure of

(tr) informal to get a firm grip on

Word Origin for cinch

C19: from Spanish cincha saddle girth, from Latin cingula girdle, from cingere to encircle

noun

a card game in which the five of trumps ranks highest

Word Origin for cinch

C19: probably from cinch 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cinch

cinch

1859, American English, "saddle-girth," from Spanish cincha "girdle," from Latin cingulum "a girdle, a swordbelt," from cingere "to surround, encircle," from PIE root *kenk- (1) "to gird, encircle" (cf. Sanskrit kankate "binds," kanci "girdle;" Lithuanian kinkau "to harness horses"). Replaced earlier surcingle. Sense of "an easy thing" is 1898, via notion of "a sure hold" (1888).

cinch

1866, "to pull in," from cinch (n.). Figurative meaning "make certain" is from 1891, American English slang. Related: Cinched; cinching.