cinch

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cinched p. pr. & vb. n. Cinch"ing.] 1. To put a cinch upon; to girth tightly. [Western U. S.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

2. To get a sure hold upon; to get into a tight place, as for forcing submission. [Slang, U. S.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

v. i. To perform the action of cinching; to tighten the cinch; -- often with up. [ Western U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Cf. cinch a girth, a tight grip, as v., to get a sure hold upon; perh. so named from the tactics used in the game; also cf. Sp. cinco five (the five spots of the color of the trump being important cards). ] A variety of auction pitch in which a draw to improve the hand is added, and the five of trumps (called right pedro) and the five of the same color (called left pedro, and ranking between the five and the four of trumps) each count five on the score. Fifty-one points make a game. Called also double pedro and high five. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. In the game of cinch, to protect (a trick) by playing a higher trump than the five. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ So named from the wife of Count Chinchon, viceroy of Peru in the seventeenth century, who by its use was freed from an intermittent fever, and after her return to Spain, contributed to the general propagation of this remedy. ] 1. (Bot.) A genus of trees growing naturally on the Andes in Peru and adjacent countries, but now cultivated in the East Indies, producing a medicinal bark of great value. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) The bark of any species of Cinchona containing three per cent. or more of bitter febrifuge alkaloids; Peruvian bark; Jesuits' bark. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Allied or pertaining to cinchona, or to the plants that produce it. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Belonging to, or obtained from, cinchona. Mayne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Cinchona. ] (Chem.) One of the quinine group of alkaloids, found especially in red cinchona bark. It is a white crystalline substance, C19H22N2O, with a bitter taste and qualities similar to, but weaker than, quinine; -- sometimes called also cinchonidia. [ 1913 Webster ]