Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to die; thus cashed in, dead.

1887		Daily Trib. (Bismarck, ND) 23 Oct. 4/1: To die is to [...] ‘cash in.’.
1888		Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 28 Oct. 14/5: I suppose I’ll ‘cash in’ pretty soon, and i don’t care how soon it is.
1897		A.H. Lewis Wolfville 6: In honor of the dead an’ to mark the occasion of his cashin’ in.
1907		R. Service ‘The Cremation of Sam McGee’ in Songs of a Sourdough 36: He turned to me, and, ‘Cap,’ says he, ‘I’ll cash in this trip, I guess.’.
1914		H. Kemp ‘Cashing In’ in Cry of Youth 75: O, my chum cashed in like a feeble match quenched by a gust of wind.
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 48: Cashed In: Finished. Dead. From card slang: To cash in one’s ‘chips’ at the end of a game and settle up.
1928		J. Callahan Man’s Grim Justice 128: I had seen three of the cleverest in the business [i.e. crime] cash in with their boots on.
1930		G. Milburn ‘The Hobo’s Last Ride’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 132: One day you made me promise, Jack, / If I lived when you cashed in, / That I’d take you back and bury you / In the churchyard with your kin.
1942		N. Algren Never Come Morning (1988) 130: Whyn’t you have him finger me, before he cashed in?
1952		W.D. Overholser Fabulous Gunman 102: I ain’t gonna do no bawling if he cashes in.
1961		T.I. Rubin In the Life 85: She [...] went into shock, they said, and cashed in.
1972		C. Bukowski Erections, Ejaculations etc. 414: Before I cash in I hope to make it in the straw.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 73: I said, ‘Who cashed in?’ He said, ‘Pretty Opal.’.

2. to settle up one’s accounts or debts, esp. in card-playing.

1896		Ade Artie (1963) 30: If you’re stuck on him I’ll cash in right here and drop out o’ the game.
1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 160: After the others Cashed In, he didn’t have any Money with which to redeem his own Checks.
1917		‘A-No. 1’ From Coast to Coast with Jack London 34: He’s merely cashing in less, by far, than that which by rights he so richly deserved for attempting to ruin your chances in life, lads!
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl.

3. to give up, to accept the situation.

1911		C.E. Mulford Bar-20 Days 169: ‘I’ll bet he’s cashed in by this time.’ ‘Cashed nothing! Them fellers don’t.’.
1964		H.S. Thompson letter 15 Nov. in Proud Highway (1997) 471: I’ll cash in and cool off till the next session.

4. to make a profit, to exploit; often as cash in on.

1934		Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves 16: Well, dash it, with a thing like to give you a send-off, why didn’t you cash in immediately?
1939		K. Tennant Foveaux 309: When my old man got on the dole [...] you can bet he tried to cash in on me.
1947		B. Schulberg Harder They Fall (1971) 287: The mob decided to cash in on a run-down ex-champion.
1952		Lait & Mortimer USA Confidential 9: Those who tried to cash in by spoofing our revelations.
1969		N. Cohn Awopbop. (1970) 35: When rock came in and R&B was acceptable, the fat man very quickly cashed in.
1979		J. Morrow Confessions of Proinsias O’Toole 39: An uppercrust pop-novelist who had lived with drug-addicted, black homos in some sewer and cashed in on the experience.
1984		C. White Life and Times of Little Richard 84: Columbia Pictures rushed out a follow-up, cashing in on teenagers’ desperate hunger to see their heroes perform.
1999		Indep. Mag. 29 May 12: Accusations of cashing in on Lennon’s memory were met with perfect self-possession.
2000		Guardian Rev. 25 Feb. 27: The ads are accompanied by national re-release campaigns to cash in on the intensive Oscar coverage.

5. to stop arguing or prevaricating, to confess.

1937

P. Cheyney Dames Don’t Care (1960) 95: Quit stallin’ an’ cash in.