Hypertext Webster Gateway: "clinch"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Clinch \Clinch\ (kl[i^]nch), n.
1. The act or process of holding fast; that which serves to
hold fast; a grip; a grasp; a clamp; a holdfast; as, to
get a good clinch of an antagonist, or of a weapon; to
secure anything by a clinch.
2. A pun. --Pope.
3. (Naut.) 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Clinch \Clinch\ (kl[i^]nch; 224), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
{Clinched}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Clinching}.] [OE. clenchen,
prop. causative of clink to cause to clink, to strike; cf. D.
klinken to tinkle, rivet. See {Clink}.]
1. To hold firmly; to hold fast by grasping or embracing
tightly. ``Clinch the pointed spear.'' --Dryden.
2. To set closely together; to close tightly; as, to clinch
the teeth or the first. --Swift.
3. To bend or turn over the point of (something that has been
driven through an object), so that it will hold fast; as,
to clinch a nail.
4. To make conclusive; to confirm; to establish; as, to
clinch an argument. --South.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Clinch \Clinch\, v. i.
To hold fast; to grasp something firmly; to seize or grasp
one another.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
clinch
n 1: (in boxing) the act of one boxer holding onto the other to
avoid being hit and to rest momentarily
2: a small slip noose made with seizing [syn: {clench}]
3: a tight embrace [syn: {hug}]
v 1: secure by clinching
2: hold in a tight grasp; "The boxer clinched his opponent";
"clench a steering wheel" [syn: {clench}]
3: flatten the ends (of nails and rivets)
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