FluentPlex

clinch

/klɪnt͡ʃ/ verb C2
  1. To bend and hammer the point of (a nail) so it cannot be removed.
  2. To clasp; to interlock.
  3. To fasten securely or permanently.
  4. To make certain; to finalize. · I already planned to buy the car, but the color was what really clinched it for me.
  5. To hold firmly; to clench
  6. To set closely together; to close tightly. · to clinch the teeth or the fist
  7. To hold a boxing opponent with one or both arms so as to avoid being hit while resting momentarily
  8. To secure a spot (e.g., at the divisional championship) before the end of regular season play by having an insurmountable lead.

He/she/it clinches · Past clinched · Past participle clinched · -ing form clinching

+ Save to review

Verb forms

Base form
clinch
He/she/it
clinches
Past
clinched
Past participle
clinched
-ing form
clinching

From the library

The boy had some slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the hoarse roar of the Doctor’s voice and saw the fury with which he shook his clinched fists at him.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, p. 61 · B2

Other matches

Learn clinch in real texts

With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.

Create free account
Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.