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cinch
have something cinched
Fig. Inf. to have something settled; to have the results of some act assured. Don't worry. I've got it cinched. You just think you've got it cinched.
It's a (dead) cinch.
Fig. It's a very easy task. (Dead means absolutely.) Tom: Did you figure out how to change the tire? Jane: Yep! It was a cinch. Altering clothes patterns is difficult for me, but for Mary, it's a dead cinch.
lead-pipe cinch
Fig. something very easy to do; something entirely certain to happen. I knew it was a lead-pie cinch that I would be selected to head the publication committee.
lead-pipe cinch
A certainty, an assured success. For example, "An engagement ain't always a lead-pipe cinch" (O. Henry, The Sphinx Apple, 1907). This colloquial expression is of disputed origin. It may allude to the cinch that tightly holds a horse's saddle in place, which can make it easier for the rider to succeed in a race; or it may allude to a cinch in plumbing, in which a lead pipe is fastened with a band of steel to another pipe or a fixture, making a very secure joint. [Late 1800s]
cinch up
v. To tighten some drawstring or strap, especially a saddle girth: I cinched up the saddle girth before mounting the horse. I cinched up the hood of my jacket to keep the rain out.
cinch
(sɪntʃ)1. n. something very easy. No sweat! It was a cinch!
2. tv. to have something settled and secured. It only took a handshake to cinch the deal.
cinched
(sɪntʃt) mod. settled; secured; sealed (up). (As one tightens the saddle girth on a horse.) I’ve got it cinched! No sweat!
dead cinch
n. an absolute certainty; an easy thing to do. It’s a dead cinch. I foresee no problems.
have something cinched
tv. to have something settled; to have the results of some act assured. (see also cinched. Have got can replace have.) You just think you’ve got it cinched.