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clench

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Clenches
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clench

  [klench]
Use clench in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to close (the hands, teeth, etc.) tightly.
2. to grasp firmly; grip.
3. clinch (def. 1).
4. clinch (defs. 2–4).
–verb (used without object)
5. to close or knot up tightly: His hands clenched as he faced his enemy.
–noun
6. the act of clenching.
7. a tight hold; grip.
8. something that clenches or holds fast.
9. clinch (defs. 9, 11, 12).
Origin:
1200–50; ME clenchen; cf. OE beclencan hold fast

Synonyms:
2. clasp, clutch.
Clenches
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clinch

  [klinch]
–verb (used with object)
1. to settle (a matter) decisively: After they clinched the deal they went out to celebrate.
2. to secure (a nail, screw, etc.) in position by beating down the protruding point: He drove the nails through the board and clinched the points flat with a hammer.
3. to fasten (objects) together by nails, screws, etc., secured in this manner.
4. Nautical. to fasten by a clinch.
–verb (used without object)
5. Boxing. to engage in a clinch: The boxers clinched and were separated by the referee.
6. Slang. to embrace, esp. passionately.
7. (of a clinched nail, screw, etc.) to hold fast; be secure.
–noun
8. the act of clinching.
9. Boxing. an act or instance of one or both boxers holding the other about the arms or body in order to prevent or hinder the opponent's punches.
10. Slang. a passionate embrace.
11. a clinched nail or fastening.
12. the bent part of a clinched nail, screw, etc.
13. a knot or bend in which a bight or eye is made by making a loop or turn in the rope and seizing the end to the standing part.
14. Archaic. a pun.
Also, clench (for defs. 1–4, 9, 11, 12).

Origin:
1560–70; later var. of ME clench

Related forms:
clinch⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. cinch, secure, close, conclude, confirm.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To clench
clench   (klěnch)   
tr.v.   clenched, clench·ing, clench·es

  1. To close tightly: clench one's teeth; clenched my fists in anger.

  2. To grasp or grip tightly: clenched the steering wheel.

  3. To clinch (a bolt, for example).

  4. Nautical To fasten with a clinch.

n.  

  1. A tight grip or grasp.

  2. Something, such as a mechanical device, that clenches or holds fast.

  3. Nautical See clinch.


[Middle English clenchen, from Old English beclencan.]
clinch   (klĭnch)   


(click for larger image in new window)
v.   clinched, clinch·ing, clinch·es

v.   tr.

    1. To fix or secure (a nail or bolt, for example) by bending down or flattening the pointed end that protrudes.

    2. To fasten together in this way.

  2. To settle definitely and conclusively; make final: "The cocktail circuit is a constant and more contracts are clinched over pâté than over paper" (Ann L. Trebbe).

  3. Sports To secure (a divisional championship, for instance) before the end of regular season play by having an insurmountable lead.

  4. Nautical To fasten with a clinch.

v.   intr.

  1. To be held together securely.

  2. Sports To hold a boxing opponent's body with one or both arms to prevent or hinder punches.

  3. Slang To embrace amorously.

n.  

  1. Something, such as a clamp, that clinches.

  2. The clinched part of a nail, bolt, or rivet.

  3. Sports An act or instance of clinching in boxing.

  4. Nautical A knot in a rope made by a half hitch with the end of the rope fastened back by seizing. Also called clench.

  5. Slang An amorous embrace.


[Variant of clench.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
clinch [klɪntʃ]

  1. tv.
    to settle something; to make something final. : I was able to clinch the deal, and I got a raise for it.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

clench 
O.E. beclencan "to hold fast, make cling," caus. of clingan (see cling).

clinch 
1570, "clasp, interlock," var. of clench. The sense of "settle decisively" is first recorded 1716, from the notion of "clinching" the point of a nail to keep it fast. Boxing sense is from 1860.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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