clinch

Etymology

16th-century alteration of clench.

verb

1. To clasp; to interlock.
2. 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. October 29, 2011, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport
3. To fasten securely or permanently.
4. To bend and hammer the point of (a nail) so it cannot be removed.
5. To embrace passionately.
6. To hold firmly; to clench.
7. To set closely together; to close tightly.
   to clinch the teeth or the fist

noun

1. Any of several fastenings.
2. 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
3. (obsolete) A pun.
4. (nautical) 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.
5. 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. 2015, Judith Arnold, Moondance
   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 […] 2021-06-25, Marina Hyde, “Matt Hancock, the one-time sex cop now busted for a dodgy clinch”, in The Guardian
6. (wrestling, combat sports) The act of one or both fighters holding onto the other to prevent being hit or engage in standup grappling.
7. (slang, archaic) 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 unblemished character. We don't want to have the bluebottles come sniffing round here, do we? 1882, Henry Herman, Henry Arthur Jones, The Silver King