cinch
1 Americannoun
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a strong girth used on stock saddles, having a ring at each end to which a strap running from the saddle is secured.
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a firm hold or tight grip.
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Informal.
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something sure or easy.
This problem is a cinch.
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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.
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verb (used with object)
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cinches,
present (3rd person singular)
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cinched,
past participle, past
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cinching
present participle
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to gird with a cinch; gird or bind firmly.
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Informal. to seize on or make sure of; guarantee.
Ability and hard work cinched her success.
noun
noun
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slang an easy task
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slang a certainty
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Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): girth. a band around a horse's belly to keep the saddle in position
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informal a firm grip
verb
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(often foll by up) to fasten a girth around (a horse)
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informal (tr) to make sure of
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informal (tr) to get a firm grip on
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cinchsimple
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cinchessimple
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have cinchedperfect
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has cinchedperfect
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am cinchingprogressive
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are cinchingprogressive
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is cinchingprogressive
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have been cinchingperfect progressive
-
has been cinchingperfect progressive
Past
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cinchedsimple
-
had cinchedperfect
-
was cinchingprogressive
-
were cinchingprogressive
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had been cinchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cinch1
An Americanism first recorded in 1855–60; from Spanish cincha, from Latin cingula “girth,” from cing(ere) “to gird” + -ula -ule
Origin of cinch2
First recorded in 1885–90; perhaps from Spanish cinco “five,” also the name of a card game, from Vulgar Latin cinque (unrecorded), from Latin quinque; see also five ( def. )
Explanation
Something that's a cinch is incredibly easy. It's a cinch to eat a meticulously decorated cake — it's much more complicated to bake and frost one. Cinch is one of those words with many meanings that seem unrelated at first glance. The original 19th-century North American definition, which is still used today, is "saddle girth," the straps that keep a horse's saddle in place. As a verb, cinch means "to pull tight," the way you'd cinch a belt. Informally, to cinch is to make absolutely certain: "It'll cinch her college decision if that school offers a scholarship."
Vocabulary lists containing cinch
The Downstairs Girl
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The Last Cuentista
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Dog Squad
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For a woman who Hollywood exiles into the Nevada desert, only for her to build an empire and return to Los Angeles to conquer the industry, besting cancer should be a cinch.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
Skirts could be very full, with crinolines underneath, or they could be pencil skirts, worn with cinch belts and sweaters with bat-wing sleeves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025
Getting around this city is a cinch since Columbia is known for its efficient public transportation options.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2025
They did sign Justin Verlander, a cinch Hall of Famer, but he’s 42, coming off injuries and a 5.48 ERA in 17 starts last season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2025
I can feel her looking at me, and I cinch the hood of my coat.
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
The zipper cinches the insulated hood close to the face, keeping the neck and head cozy in wind.
From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2023
But it’s Silvio’s hapless, cause-driven arrogance that cinches this as Sordi’s tour de force, maximizing Risi’s canny trust that a fixed camera on gifted actors will yield plenty of funny, poignant, gritty life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
High praise, indeed, but what cinches it for Thompson is the timing.
From Washington Post ● May 15, 2019
That cinches it: Jane is writing the show we know as Jane the Virgin.
From Slate ● Mar. 27, 2019
Descheeny came down to the hunters who pretended to be adjusting the harnesses and tightening the cinches.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
The nostalgic tone of the collection was captured by some attendees who praised the juxtaposition of pieces, resulting in fluid, less cinched silhouettes reminiscent of 1940s Hollywood.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
His designs created a flattering silhouette, with cinched belts at the waist and structured shoulders heavily peppered across the collection.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
The pouch is then filled with batting and stitched and cinched to secure.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2025
The cinched waist—the subtle negative drafts ahead of rear quarters—might as well have had whalebone stays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2025
“The pi-ana cinched it. Then two days later here come Mr. Texas. It like to kilt me, seein’ you was still in love with him.”
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China sent stocks on another roller-coaster ride Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average cinching its biggest intraday comeback since April.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
The Cougars compensated for his injury by cinching up their defense, forcing Texas Tech into several shot-clock violations.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
Up in the bucket of the scissor lift, she maneuvered through her huge cat’s cradle, cinching lines and crocheting them with larger stitched panels to create dense splashes of color among the trees.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2023
About that same time, inspired by a photo of “a wasp-waisted boy” from tribal New Guinea, he began cinching a belt around his waist at night, drawing it tighter until he experienced “shifts in consciousness.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 14, 2018
His arms wrapped around her waist, cinching her to him, and she put her hands in his hair, feeling the silken strands between her fingers.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
