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Glite Dictionary
🤑 To profit 💵 To exchange for money
to cash in

to cash in

17 3.6
To get money for a check or bond
  • phrasal verb
  • /kæʃ ɪn/
translation icon : cobrar
  • Mom cashed in her CD and gave the money to our brother-in-law to go to the Philippines.

Now let it be your little secret that you then cash in and when you need it, you.

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Examples

  • You ready to cash in?

    Bunraku (2010)

  • And in four short years, the Big Ten is going to cash in big when it renegotiates its television deal.

    Blog text (10)

  • You can now cash in this insurance and you can now buy back down at the new level and rise together.

  • I decided it was time to cash in.

    Stander (2003)

  • I'll cash in some stock options.

    Bereavement (2010)

  • I'd like to cash this in, please.

    Skyfall (2012)

  • And I'm gonna cash in my life insurance policy.

    Life as a House (2001)

  • So what a bank does is it takes deposits and allows people to cash them in whenever they want.

  • You know the business, and I want to cash in on some of that loot.

    Jailhouse Rock (1957)

  • I decided to cash in my savings bonds to pay off my student loans.

Synonyms

to cash
vsto cash in
206 2.1

To change a check into money

is the two word form used the same way
to liquidate investment
vsto cash in
  • Specialized
6.4

To sell investments to get cash

applies mainly to exchanging financial papers like checks or bonds for money

Surface Forms

cash in infinitive
cashed in past
cashed in past participle
cashing in present participle
cashes in third person singular

Morphology

cash + in

The core sense 'to convert or redeem something for money' is directly derivable from 'cash' (obtain money) + 'in' (into/within), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer the literal financial meaning. However, the extended use meaning 'to realize a profit or take advantage of an opportunity' is a metaphorical extension of the literal sense and may not be fully predictable without prior exposure, making the overall item only partially transparent.

Etymology

Cash in comes from taking a paper like a check or bond to a bank and trading it for cash in your hand, a simple swap of paper for money. So, it means 'to exchange something, such as a check or bonds, for cash'.