Clinch

[klinch] /klɪntʃ/

verb (used with object)
1.
to settle (a matter) decisively:
After they clinched the deal they went out to celebrate.
2.
to secure (a nail, screw, etc.) in position by beating down the protruding point:
He drove the nails through the board and clinched the points flat with a hammer.
3.
to fasten (objects) together by nails, screws, etc., secured in this manner.
4.
Nautical. to fasten by a clinch.
verb (used without object)
5.
Boxing. to engage in a clinch:
The boxers clinched and were separated by the referee.
6.
Slang. to embrace, especially passionately.
7.
(of a clinched nail, screw, etc.) to hold fast; be secure.
noun
8.
the act of clinching.
9.
Boxing. an act or instance of one or both boxers holding the other about the arms or body in order to prevent or hinder the opponent’s punches.
10.
Slang. a passionate embrace.
11.
a clinched nail or fastening.
12.
the bent part of a clinched nail, screw, etc.
13.
a knot or bend in which a bight or eye is made by making a loop or turn in the rope and seizing the end to the standing part.
14.
Archaic. a pun.
/klɪntʃ/
verb
1.
(transitive) to secure (a driven nail) by bending the protruding point over
2.
(transitive) to hold together in such a manner: to clinch the corners of the frame
3.
(transitive) to settle (something, such as an argument, bargain, etc) in a definite way
4.
(transitive) (nautical) to fasten by means of a clinch
5.
(intransitive) to engage in a clinch, as in boxing or wrestling
noun
6.
the act of clinching
7.

8.
(boxing, wrestling) an act or an instance in which one or both competitors hold on to the other to avoid punches, regain wind, etc
9.
(slang) a lovers’ embrace
10.
(nautical) a loop or eye formed in a line by seizing the end to the standing part.
v.

1560s, “clasp, interlock,” especially with a bent nail, variant of clench. The sense of “settle decisively” is first recorded 1716, from the notion of “clinching” the point of a nail to keep it fast. Boxing sense is from 1860. Related: Clinched; clinching.
n.

1620s, “method of fastening,” from clinch (v.). Meaning “a fastening by bent nail” is from 1650s. In pugilism, from 1875.

noun

verb

[fr the bending over, clinching, of the point of a nail to ensure it does not pull out; ultimately fr clench]