# clinch
## English
### Etymology

16th-century alteration of clench.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /klɪnt͡ʃ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪntʃ

### Verb

clinch (third-person singular simple present clinches, present participle clinching, simple past and past participle clinched)
* To bend and hammer the point of (a nail) so it cannot be removed. [from 1560s]
* To clasp; to interlock.
** 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:“Beloved shipmates, clinch the last verse of the first chapter of Jonah—‘And God had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.’”
* To fasten securely or permanently.
* To make certain; to finalize. [from 1716]
    I already planned to buy the car, but the color was what really clinched it for me.
** 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport‎: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.
* To hold firmly; to clench
    Synonyms: clasp, grasp, grip; see also Thesaurus:grasp
* To set closely together; to close tightly.
    Synonyms: attach, join, put together; see also Thesaurus:join
    to clinch the teeth or the fist
** 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:[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.
* To hold a boxing opponent with one or both arms so as to avoid being hit while resting momentarily [1860s]
* To secure a spot (e.g., at the divisional championship) before the end of regular season play by having an insurmountable lead.
** 2023 August 31, Seattle Times:It put the U.S. on the brink of clinching a spot in the quarterfinals.
* To embrace passionately.

#### Derived terms

* unclinch

#### Translations
### Noun

clinch (plural clinches)
* Any of several fastenings.
* The act of bending and hammering the point of a nail so it cannot be removed.
* The act or process of holding fast; that which serves to hold fast.
    Synonyms: grip, grasp
    to get a good clinch of an antagonist, or of a weapon
    to secure anything by a clinch
* (obsolete) A pun.
    Synonym: clench
* (nautical) 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.
* A passionate embrace.
** 2015, Judith Arnold, Moondance: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.
** 2021 June 25, Marina Hyde, “Matt Hancock, the one-time sex cop now busted for a dodgy clinch”, in The Guardian‎: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 […]
* (wrestling, combat sports) The act of one or both fighters holding onto the other to prevent being hit or engage in standup grappling.
* (slang, archaic) A prison sentence.
** 1882, Henry Herman, Henry Arthur Jones, The Silver King:COOMBE: He got the clinch only last week — eighteen months. You see it's no good having anybody here as ain't got a unblemished character. We don't want to have the bluebottles come sniffing round here, do we?

#### Derived terms

* clinch-built

#### Descendants

* → Czech: klinč
* → German: Clinch
* → French: clinch
* → Portuguese: clinche
* → Russian: клинч (klinč)
* → Serbo-Croatian: klȉnč
* → Polish: klincz
* → Swedish: klinch

#### Translations
### See also

* clench
* clincher
* clinch nut

### Further reading

* clinch on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from English clinch.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /klintʃ/, /klinʃ/

### Noun

clinch m (plural clinchs)
* clinch