clinch

1. 1.

   (boxing) the act of one boxer holding onto the other to avoid being hit and to rest momentarily

   Broadermaneuver

   boxing

2. 2.

   a small slip noose made with seizing

   Synonymsclench

   Broadernoose

   Narrowerdouble clinchinside clinchoutside clinch

   vessel

3. 3.

   the flattened part of a nail or bolt or rivet

   Broaderfastener

   Part ofnailboltrivet
4. 4.

   a device (generally used by carpenters) that holds things firmly together

   Synonymsclamp

   Broaderholding device

   Narrowerbench clampC-clampcramppipe visepress
5. 5.

   a tight or amorous embrace

   “come here and give me a big hug”

   Synonymshugsqueeze

   Broaderembrace

Other forms of clinch

plural

clinches·

past tense

clinched·

present participle

clinching·

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 clinch

What does clinch mean?

clinch means "secure or fasten by flattening the ends of nails or bolts". That is the primary sense; the word has 11 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in clinch?

clinch has 1 syllable: clinch. In IPA it is /ˈklɪntʃ/.

What is another word for clinch?

Close synonyms include clench, clench, clamp, hug, squeeze. 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 clinch a common word?

clinch 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.