clinch

name

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

noun

Etymology: 16th-century alteration of clench.

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

   “to secure anything by a clinch”

4. A pun.
5. 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.
6. A passionate embrace.

   “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.”

   “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 […]”

7. The act of one or both fighters holding onto the other to prevent being hit or engage in standup grappling.
8. A 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?”

verb

Etymology: 16th-century alteration of clench.

1. To bend and hammer the point of (a nail) so it cannot be removed.
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.’””

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.”

   “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.”

5. To hold firmly; to clench
6. To set closely together; to close tightly.

   “to clinch the teeth or the fist”

   “[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.”

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.

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

9. To embrace passionately.