clinch

present singular third person clinches · participle present clinching · participle past clinched · past clinched

1. To bend and hammer the point of (a nail) so it cannot be removed.First known use 1560s
2. To clasp; to interlock.

   “Beloved shipmates, clinch the last verse of the first chapter of Jonah—‘And God had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.’”

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 9, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

3. To fasten securely or permanently.
4. To make certain; to finalize.First known use 1716

   I already planned to buy the car, but the color was what really clinched it for me.

   1 more example

   Vincent Kompany was sent off after conceding a penalty that was converted by Stephen Hunt to give Wolves hope. But Adam Johnson's curling shot in stoppage time clinched the points.

   2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport

5. To hold firmly; to clench

   Synonyms: clasp, grasp, grip, beclasp, begrasp, begrip, belock, clasp

6. To set closely together; to close tightly.

   to clinch the teeth or the fist

   1 more example

   [T]ry if the heads of the nails [of horseshoes] be fast, and whether they be well clinched; if not, send presently for a smith; always stand by while the smith is employed.

   1731 (date written, published 1745), Jonathan Swift, “[Directions to Servants.] The Duty of Servants at Inns.”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XVI, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 175

   Synonyms: attach, join, put together, accouple, affix, assemble, associate, attach

7. To hold a boxing opponent with one or both arms so as to avoid being hit while resting momentarilyFirst known use 1860s
8. To secure a spot (e.g., at the divisional championship) before the end of regular season play by having an insurmountable lead.

   It put the U.S. on the brink of clinching a spot in the quarterfinals.

   2023 August 31, Seattle Times

9. To embrace passionately.

plural clinches

1. Any of several fastenings.
2. The act of bending and hammering the point of a nail so it cannot be removed.
3. The act or process of holding fast; that which serves to hold fast.

   to secure anything by a clinch

   1 more example

   to get a good clinch of an antagonist, or of a weapon

   Synonyms: grip, grasp

4. obsoleteA pun.

   Synonyms: clench

5. nauticalA hitch or bend by which a rope is made fast to the ring of an anchor, or the breeching of a ship's gun to the ringbolts.
6. A passionate embrace.

   So, then, to the health secretary’s “steamy clinch” with Gina Coladangelo, the lobbyist and long-term friend he took on as an aide last year […]

   2021 June 25, Marina Hyde, “Matt Hancock, the one-time sex cop now busted for a dodgy clinch”, in The Guardian

   1 more example

   More likely, he was letting her know that his visit this morning was not going to end in a clinch—or something steamier. It was going to be about sitting at a table, drinking coffee and talking.

   2015, Judith Arnold, Moondance

7. combat sportsgovernmentThe act of one or both fighters holding onto the other to prevent being hit or engage in standup grappling.
8. archaicslangA prison sentence.

   COOMBE: He got the clinch only last week — eighteen months. You see it's no good having anybody here as ain't got a^([sic]) unblemished character. We don't want to have the bluebottles come sniffing round here, do we?

   1882, Henry Herman, Henry Arthur Jones, The Silver King

1. A surname.
2. A river in Virginia and Tennessee, United States, a tributary of the Tennessee River, named after an 18th century explorer.