# clench
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English clenchen, from Old English clenċan (“to clinch; hold fast”), a variant of Old English clenġan (“to adhere; remain”), from Proto-Germanic *klangijaną, causative of *klinganą (“to stick; adhere”). Related to cling.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /klɛnt͡ʃ/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛntʃ

### Verb

clench (third-person singular simple present clenches, present participle clenching, simple past and past participle clenched) (ambitransitive)
* To grip or hold fast.
** 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:Clinch the pointed spear.
* To close tightly.
    He clenched his fist in anger.
** 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 179:[She] flung herself / Down on the great King's couch, and writhed upon it, / And clench'd her fingers till they bit the palm, / And shriek'd out 'traitor' to the unhearing wall, […]
* Alternative form of clinch (“bend and hammer a nail”)
* Dated form of clinch (“make certain, finalize”).
    to clench an argument

#### Usage notes

* In the vast majority of instances, this verb describes the action of a human or animal body part, usually the hand, fingers, fist, claws, jaw, teeth, buttocks, or anus. While such body parts may be said to clench another object, such as a knife clenched in the teeth, it is rare to suggest that an inanimate object such as a vise is itself engaged in clenching. In these cases, a synonym such as clamp, clasp, squeeze, or constrict would be more idiomatic.

#### Synonyms

* (grip or hold tightly): clasp, clutch, grip; See also Thesaurus:grasp

#### Antonyms

* unclench

#### Derived terms

* buttock-clenching (butt-clenching)
* clenchable
* clench-built
* clencher
* clench one's fists
* clenchpoop
* clencht
* clinch
* reclench

#### Translations
### Noun

clench (plural clenches)
* A tight grip.
* Alternative form of clinch (“the act of bending and hammering the point of a nail so it cannot be removed”)
* (engineering) A seal that is applied to formed thin-wall bushings.
* A local chapter of the Church of the SubGenius parody religion.
** 1989, Ted Schultz, The Fringes of Reason, page 210:And perhaps most innovative of all, Drummond and Stang pushed for a policy of clench autonomy […]
** 2003, Peter Knight, Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, page 170:Every SubGenius clench is required to have a member who does not believe […]
** 2012, George D. Chryssides, Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, page 95:Originality is encouraged, and some clenches have devised their own distinctive organizational names […]
* (obsolete) A pun.
    Synonym: clinch
** 1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the First”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC, page 1:Here one poor word an hundred clenches makes

#### Translations
### References

* “clench”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “clench”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.