lead-pipe cinch

lead-pipe cinch

A task that is easily, effortlessly, or certain to be accomplished. I've been running marathons for years now, so this 5K run will be a lead-pipe cinch for me. Everyone assumed her election would be a lead-pipe cinch, so it shocked the entire nation when she lost.
See also: cinch
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

lead-pipe cinch

Fig. something very easy to do; something entirely certain to happen. I knew it was a lead-pie cinch that I would be selected to head the publication committee.
See also: cinch
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

lead-pipe cinch

A certainty, an assured success. For example, "An engagement ain't always a lead-pipe cinch" (O. Henry, The Sphinx Apple, 1907). This colloquial expression is of disputed origin. It may allude to the cinch that tightly holds a horse's saddle in place, which can make it easier for the rider to succeed in a race; or it may allude to a cinch in plumbing, in which a lead pipe is fastened with a band of steel to another pipe or a fixture, making a very secure joint. [Late 1800s]
See also: cinch
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

lead-pipe cinch

An absolute certainty; an easy success. Unlike the meaning of this cliché, the etymology is uncertain. It originated in America in the late nineteenth century and may refer to (l) the cinch that holds a horse’s saddle in place, which, if well fastened, makes it easier for the rider to win a race; or (2), more likely, to plumbing, where a lead pipe is fastened with a steel band to another pipe or fixture, making for a very secure joint. O. Henry used the term in a short story published in 1907 (The Sphinx Apple): “An engagement ain’t always a lead-pipe cinch.”
See also: cinch
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • cakewalk
  • a walk in the park
  • park
  • walk in the park
  • walk in the park, a
  • sleepwalk
  • a sleepwalk
  • it's a cinch
  • cinch
  • cinched
References in periodicals archive
Some new LSAs are built largely of off-the-shelf components from sources like Aircraft Spruce, so for these airplanes, long-term support is less worrisome, if not a lead-pipe cinch.
The LSA support gamble
There aren't any places where it's a lead-pipe cinch to take a thirty-inch buck, but there are many places where, with hard hunting and a bit of luck, such a buck is possible.
Monster mulies: where have all the big bucks gone? Our resident big game expert examines the situation
It's a lead-pipe cinch that this year's election reform panels, hearings, briefs, and reports will feature many attempts to summarize neatly the American experience with voting rights.
The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States
The industry is in a lead-pipe cinch with these potential sin taxes.
One man's view: Walter Driskill offers his perspective on the issues
Fast forward to 2008: The Thielert engine economics made security-backed mortgages look like a lead-pipe cinch and by last spring, Thielert was in bankruptcy.
Can you believe this guy?