Definition

1. Noun:
   • Immediately available money in physical form: "Cold cash" refers to money that exists as physical currency (banknotes and coins) and is readily on hand for immediate use in a transaction, without the need for credit, checks, or electronic transfer.

Usage

• The term emphasizes the immediacy, tangibility, and certainty of payment. It is often used in contexts where a seller demands or a buyer offers payment in physical money to avoid the risks or delays associated with other payment methods.
• It is typically used with verbs like pay (with), have, offer, demand, hand over.

Examples

Advanced Usage

• "Cold hard cash": A more emphatic variant with the same meaning, stressing the physical, unyielding nature of the money.
  • He prefers to be paid in cold hard cash for his freelance work.

Variants and Related Words

• Ready cash / Readies (informal, chiefly British): Money immediately available for use.
  • I don't have enough ready cash for such a large purchase.
• Cash on the barrelhead (chiefly US, idiomatic): Immediate payment in cash at the time of purchase.
  • It's cash on the barrelhead for these antiques.

Synonyms

• Hard cash: Physical money, especially when emphasizing its reliability.
• Spot cash: Cash paid immediately at the "spot" where a deal is made.
• Legal tender: Coins or banknotes that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt.

Related Idioms

• To pay cash on the nail: To pay immediately in cash.
  • He bought the painting and paid cash on the nail.
• Cash-and-carry: A system where goods are paid for in cash and taken away by the purchaser.
  • It's a cash-and-carry wholesale warehouse.

Noun

1. money in the form of cash that is readily available
   • his wife was always a good source of ready cash
   • he paid cold cash for the TV set