What does clinch mean?
Definitions for clinch
klɪntʃclinch
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word clinch.
Princeton's WordNet
clinchnoun
(boxing) the act of one boxer holding onto the other to avoid being hit and to rest momentarily
clinch, clenchnoun
a small slip noose made with seizing
clinchnoun
the flattened part of a nail or bolt or rivet
clamp, clinchnoun
a device (generally used by carpenters) that holds things firmly together
hug, clinch, squeezeverb
a tight or amorous embrace
"come here and give me a big hug"
clinchverb
secure or fasten by flattening the ends of nails or bolts
"The girder was clinched into the wall"
clinchverb
hold a boxing opponent with one or both arms so as to prevent punches
clench, clinchverb
hold in a tight grasp
"clench a steering wheel"
clinchverb
embrace amorously
clinchverb
flatten the ends (of nails and rivets)
"the nails were clinched"
clinchverb
settle conclusively
"clinch a deal"
Wiktionary
clinchnoun
Any of several fastenings.
clinchnoun
A passionate embrace.
clinchverb
To clasp; to interlock.
clinchverb
To make certain; to finalize.
I already planned to buy the car, but the color was what really clinched it for me.
clinchverb
To fasten securely or permanently.
clinchverb
To bend and hammer the point of a nail so it cannot be removed.
clinchverb
To embrace passionately.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Clinchnoun
Etymology: from the verb.
Such as they are, I hope they will prove, without a clinch, luciferous searching after the nature of light. Boyle.
Pure clinches the suburbian muse affords,
And Panton waging harmless war with words. Dryden.Here one poor word a hundred clinches makes. Alexander Pope.
To CLINCHverb
Etymology: clyniga , Sax. to knock, Junius. Clingo, in Festus, to encompass, Minshew.
Simois rowls the bodies and the shields
Of heroes, whose dismember’d hands yet bear
The dart aloft, and clinch the pointed spear. John Dryden, Virg. Æn.Their tallest trees are about seven feet high, the tops whereof I could but just reach with my fist clinched. Jonathan Swift.
ChatGPT
clinch
Clinch refers to the act of settling or securing something, often an agreement or a victory. It is confirming or finalizing a situation or making it certain. In the context of boxing or wrestling, it refers to a grappling hold by interlocking arms. Clinch can be used as a noun or a verb.
Webster Dictionary
Clinchverb
to hold firmly; to hold fast by grasping or embracing tightly
Clinchverb
to set closely together; to close tightly; as, to clinch the teeth or the first
Clinchverb
to bend or turn over the point of (something that has been driven through an object), so that it will hold fast; as, to clinch a nail
Clinchverb
to make conclusive; to confirm; to establish; as, to clinch an argument
Clinchverb
to hold fast; to grasp something firmly; to seize or grasp one another
Clinchnoun
the act or process of holding fast; that which serves to hold fast; a grip; a grasp; a clamp; a holdfast; as, to get a good clinch of an antagonist, or of a weapon; to secure anything by a clinch
Clinchnoun
a pun
Clinchnoun
a 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
Etymology: [OE. clenchen, prop. causative of clink to cause to clink, to strike; cf. D. klinken to tinkle, rivet. See Clink.]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Clinch
klinsh, Clench, klensh, v.t. to fasten or rivet a nail by bending the point and beating the bent part flat against the object through which the nail was driven: to grasp tightly: to set firmly, as the teeth: to fasten on: (fig.) to drive home an argument: to settle or confirm.—n. something set firmly: the fastening of a nail by beating it back, as in the verb: a pun.—n. Clinch′er, one that clinches: a decisive argument.—adj. Clinch′er-built (same as Clinker-built).—n. Clinch′er-work, the disposition of the side planks of a vessel, when the lower edge of one row overlaps the row next under it. [Causal form of klink, to strike smartly; Dut. and Ger. klinken, to rivet a bolt.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
clinch
A particular method of fastening large ropes by a half hitch, with the end stopped back to its own part by seizings; it is chiefly to fasten the hawsers suddenly to the rings of the kedges or small anchors; and the breechings of guns to the ring-bolts in the ship's side. Those parts of a rope or cable which are clinched. Thus the outer end is "bent" by the clinch to the ring of the anchor. The inner or tier-clinch in the good old times was clinched to the main-mast, passing under the tier beams (where it was unlawfully, as regards the custom of the navy, clinched). Thus "the cable runs out to the clinch," means, there is no more to veer.--To clinch is to batter or rivet a bolt's end upon a ring or piece of plate iron; or to turn back the point of a nail that it may hold fast. (See CLENCH.)
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
CLINCH
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Clinch is ranked #25459 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Clinch surname appeared 971 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Clinch.
78.8% or 766 total occurrences were White.
14.7% or 143 total occurrences were Black.
4.8% or 47 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
1.1% or 11 total occurrences were of two or more races.
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of clinch in Chaldean Numerology is: 2
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of clinch in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Examples of clinch in a Sentence
New York , Sanders vowed. The Republicans were battling for 95 delegates. Republican Donald Trump, originally from Queens, would need to win more than 50 percent of the vote statewide - – and dominate across the congressional districts -- to have a shot at claiming all those delegates. The importance of every last delegate has increased in recent weeks as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has appeared to outmaneuver Trump’s campaign in the behind-the-scenes preparations for July’s convention. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has been laying the groundwork for a contested convention – - where no candidate has the necessary 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination – - by getting allies elected as delegates. That way, if voting extends to a second round, some of those pledged to Republican Donald Trump on the first round could peel off and support Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. This has heightened the pressure on Republican Donald Trump to clinch the nomination before the convention, though Cruz’s recent wins have made that harder. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who infamously panned Trump's New York values earlier in the primary, had been bracing for a tough showing in the Empire State. The Texas senator was already looking ahead on the primary calendar, turning The Texas senator attention to Pennsylvania, where The Texas senator delivered a speech calling on Americans to join together to move the country forward. It is time for us to get up, shake it off and be who we were destined to be.
It’s great. It’s amazing for the team to win this event. We came in with really high hopes, or at least I did, for the event, i was really happy to be in that position to clinch the match.
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both were seeking rebound victories Tuesday after recent setbacks. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has complicated Trump's path to the nomination by winning recent contests like Wisconsin and getting allies elected to state delegate slates. On the Democratic side, Sanders had been on a winning streak up until Tuesday – winning seven of the eight prior contests. Whether Donald Trump and Clinton's performance Tuesday will help either wrap up the race in the coming weeks remains an open question. The campaigns head next to five Eastern states that vote next Tuesday : Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware. It’s potentially friendly territory for the front-runners. But unless Donald Trump can drive Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz out of the race, the billionaire businessman still may have to fight all the way until the final primary contests on June 7 – especially with an eye toward delegate-rich California, which may end up the determining race – to see if Donald Trump can clinch the nomination with the necessary 1,237 delegates. As of Tuesday night, Donald Trump had 840 delegates. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had 559, and Kasich had 146. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who infamously panned Trump's New York values earlier in the primary, had been bracing for a tough showing in the Empire State and showed no signs of throwing in the towel. The Texas senator was already looking ahead, turning The Texas senator attention to Pennsylvania, where The Texas senator delivered a speech calling on Americans to join together to move the country forward. It is time for us to get up, shake it off and be who we were destined to be.
We had the high of the clinch, and yesterday we were back on our heels, we can’t maintain our edge that way. Today you saw everybody out there, a lot of energy, good live actions, making plays, getting base hits. Once in a while you have a game you need to address and we addressed it really well.
We were pretty confident that we were going to clinch the spot either this game or the next game, but now that we’ve done it, we’ve just got to keep building on toward the end of the season.
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Translations for clinch
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
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"clinch." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 6 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/clinch>.
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