cash (redirected from cash-in-hand)

call/cash in your chips

1. to die. He cashed in his chips shortly before his ninetieth birthday.

2. to sell things that you own, especially shares (= parts of a business), because you need some money. I think it's time to cash in our chips. It's the only way we can pay the bill.

See also: call, chip

a cash cow

a business or a part of a business that always makes a lot of profit. The British newspapers are the group's biggest cash cow, earning nearly 40% of group profits.

See also: cow

cash on the barrelhead (American)

money that is paid immediately when something is bought. She's asking $6000 for the car - cash on the barrelhead.

hard cash (British, American & Australian, American & Australian)

money in the form of coins or notes (= paper money). We gave him half the money in hard cash and wrote a cheque for the rest.

See also: hard

ready cash/money

money that is immediately available to spend. They need investors with ready money if they're going to get the project started.

See also: money, ready

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cash in (on something)

to make money doing something. Companies developing this technology are not necessarily cashing in. Criminals cannot cash in on their crimes by selling their stories to the newspapers.

cash out (something)

to sell something you bought as an investment. Most of the early investors cashed out as the business became increasingly complicated. You should avoid cashing out your retirement plan.