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
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had cinchedperfect
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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:
When someone calls in seeking to cancel an account, for example, it’s a cinch for AI to handle that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
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
All in, a bald eagle can cinch down on its prey with a clutch roughly 10 times stronger than the human hand is capable of.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026
Getting around this city is a cinch since Columbia is known for its efficient public transportation options.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2025
It’s a cinch that you can’t do that kind of work on an empty stomach, so I’ll send your oldest sister down with a lunch bucket.”
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
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
“It goes over my entire face and cinches up, so just my nostrils are out,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 30, 2023
“I ride them. I told them all they got saddle cinches on their sides because I have tightened that thing so hard riding them. They have done a great job.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2021
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
He got an extra 3% out of Sarnoff in part by blithely insisting that he would still leave for a long-planned vacation, incommunicado, before the deal was cinched.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
His shoulders thickened, his waist cinched up, and his striking visage conquered a certain corner of the liberal internet.
From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2025
The crowds gathered ten deep for one hundred feet in each direction, a few spectators reaching through the slats of the fence to stroke Seabiscuit’s chest as Smith cinched the girth on Woolf’s kangaroo-leather saddle.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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
When Rachel once put on pants for work and found they were way too loose at the waist, she solved the problem by visiting a tailor cinching them tighter with an office binder clip.
From Washington Post ● May 6, 2021
Gherland thought as they walked, tendrils of worry curling around his heart, cinching into a hard, tight knot.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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.
