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money in the form of coins or banknotes, especially that issued by a government.
money or an equivalent, as a check, paid at the time of making a purchase.
to give or obtain cash for (a check, money order, etc.).
Cards.

to win (a trick) by leading an assured winner.
to lead (an assured winner) in order to win a trick:
He cashed his ace and led the queen.

cash in,

to turn in and get cash for (one’s chips), as in a gambling casino.
to end or withdraw from a business agreement; convert one’s assets into cash.
Slang. to die:
After her parents cashed in, she lived with her grandmother.

cash in on, to profit from; use to one’s advantage:
swindlers who cash in on the credulity of the public.
cash in one’s chips, Slang. to die.
any of several low-denomination coins of China, India, and the East Indies, especially a Chinese copper coin.
John (“Johnny”) 1932–2003, U.S. country-and-western singer, musician, and composer.
Contemporary Examples

A news photo had shown him and his wife, Leslieann, smiling with a mound of cash.
The Black Widow of Silicon Valley Michael Daly July 13, 2014

Further, the firm had already received $10 billion in TARP money and was sitting on $100 billion in cash.
The Backdoor Bailout Backlash Max Blumenthal March 23, 2009

Paco tipped off a police raid that caught his cousin with $80,000 in cash, several pounds of meth, and over two hundred firearms.
The Devil’s Drug: The True Story of Meth in New Mexico Nick Romeo August 23, 2013

Sure, $250 million—the price Jeff Bezos is paying for the storied newspaper—sounds like a lot of cash to us working stiffs.
The Washington Post Sale by the Numbers August 5, 2013

Earl Devaney, who is overseeing the stimulus package, seems just like the kind of guy you’d want guarding your cash.
Get to Know Obama’s Czars Benjamin Sarlin April 20, 2009

Historical Examples

And his peculiarity was that all his transactions in this way were done by cash—bank-notes or gold—instead of by cheque.
The Herapath Property J. S. Fletcher

Ransom at long range will be about the size of it—cash or crash.
American Notes Rudyard Kipling

He was proud of his calling and counted it high and sacred, though he valued his creations in terms of cash.
Why we should read S. P. B. Mais

By the hazard of fortune all the cash found its way to Casanova.
Casanova’s Homecoming Arthur Schnitzler

“You’ll pay me cash, of course,” Captain Dove stipulated, as though he had been bargaining about a charter-party.
The White Blackbird Hudson Douglas

noun
banknotes and coins, esp in hand or readily available; money or ready money
immediate payment, in full or part, for goods or services (esp in the phrase cash down)
(modifier) of, for, or paid by cash: a cash transaction
(Canadian) the cash, a checkout counter
verb
(transitive) to obtain or pay ready money for: to cash a cheque
noun (pl) cash
any of various Chinese, Indonesian, or Indian coins of low value
noun
Johnny. 1932–2003, US country-and-western singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His recordings include the hits “I Walk the Line” (1956), “Ring of Fire” (1963), “A Boy named Sue” (1969), and the American Recordings series of albums (1994–2003)
n.

1590s, “money box;” also “money in hand, coin,” from Middle French caisse “money box” (16c.), from Provençal caissa or Italian cassa, from Latin capsa “box” (see case (n.2)); originally the money box, but the secondary sense of the money in it became sole meaning 18c. Cash crop is attested from 1831; cash flow from 1954; the mechanical cash register from 1878.

Like many financial terms in English (bankrupt, etc.), ultimately from Italian. Not related to (but influencing the form of) the colonial British cash “Indian monetary system, Chinese coin, etc.,” which is from Tamil kasu, Sanskrit karsha, Sinhalese kasi.
v.

“to convert to cash” (as a check, etc.), 1811, from cash (n.). Related: Cashed; cashing.

Related Terms

cold cash

cash cow
cash in
cash on the barrelhead