cold cash

American  

noun

1. money immediately available.

   They will accept payment in cold cash only.

---

cold cash Idioms  

1. Also, hard cash. Actual currency (bills and coins); money immediately available, paid at the time of a purchase. For example, Will you lower the price if I pay in cold cash instead of using a credit card? or We have only a limited amount of hard cash—the rest is in accounts receivable. [First half of 1900s]

---

Etymology

Origin of cold cash

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

The claim behind tether, a key stablecoin that has been lubricating crypto trading generally, is that each tether, priced at $1, is backed by $1 in cold cash.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2022

“From nativity to church, to family, to commerce” goes the commonly held view of the season’s history, “a story of high beginnings, a cosy, warm middle and the chill of cold cash at the end.”

From Washington Post • Dec. 20, 2017

Today, the government’s aid comes chiefly in the form of insurance subsidies—reliable and robust protections against losses that many farmers and their lobbyists hoped would be every bit as effective as cold cash.

From Scientific American • May 28, 2015

But the laws of Silicon Valley and capitalism dictate that a hot startup eventually find a way to convert its popularity into cold cash.

From Slate • May 26, 2015

And, during that time, she cost the French nation, in cold cash, something over seven million dollars.

From Superwomen by Terhune, Albert Payson