cash-in
Americannoun
verb
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(tr) to give (something) in exchange, esp for money
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informal
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to profit (from)
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to take advantage (of)
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(intr) a slang expression for die 1
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Settle an account, close a matter, quit, as in I'm simply going to cash in and leave , or The countries of the former Soviet Union have cashed in . [Late 1800s]
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Profit handsomely, as in When the stock price went up, we really cashed in . This phrase often is extended to cash in on , meaning to take advantage of. [Early 1900s]
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Also, cash in one's chips . Die, as in If this new treatment fails, Bob may be cashing in his chips before long . This usage was a transfer from quitting a poker game. [ Slang ; late 1800s]
Etymology
Origin of cash-in
First recorded in 1935–40; noun use of verb phrase cash in
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:
That is less than half the $800,000 cash-in value of Montana’s policy and a fraction of the death benefit, according to a court challenge she made this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
It's easy to write off reunions as a lazy cash-in, but the dedicated fans who are likely to turn up will want an experience to remember.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2024
But a new “Mean Girls” can withstand all that when it has an overall approach that rejects the feeling of a made-for-streaming nostalgia cash-in.
From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2024
However, it is similarly tough to identify the optimal landowners to subsidize, and these payments may not match the quick cash-in of deforestation.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2023
Some private owners of forest land in that area, though not enough, have taken their cue from the government agencies and seek a safe sustained yield of timber and pulpwood rather than a quick cash-in.
From The Nation's River A report on the Potomac from the U.S. Department of the Interior by United States. Dept. of the Interior.
During the second quarter, traders piled into leveraged products like ETFs to try and cash in on the red-hot rally in semis.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Even before AMD’s latest announcements, Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya said he saw an “emerging battle” in the server-CPU market as the two chip makers look to cash in on the agentic AI boom.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
While some savvy owners were able to cash in big during the tournament, others experienced only a moderate bump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Entrepreneurs—from fashion executives to coffee-chain founders—are looking to cash in on what they hope is the next pickleball.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
With Booth dead, and his chief accomplices under arrest, awaiting trial, it was time to cash in.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
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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.