clench

1. 1.

   hold in a tight grasp

   “clench a steering wheel”

   Synonymsclinch

   Broaderseize
2. 2.

   squeeze together tightly

   “clench one's jaw”

   Broadersqueeze

   Narrowergrit

Other forms of clench

plural

clenches·

past tense

clenched·

present participle

clenching·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about clench

What does clench mean?

clench means "a small slip noose made with seizing". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in clench?

clench has 1 syllable: clench. In IPA it is /ˈklɛntʃ/.

What is another word for clench?

Close synonyms include clinch, clasp, clutch, clutches, grasp. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is clench a common word?

clench is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.