clench
English
Etymology
From Middle English clenchen, from Old English clenċan (“to clinch; hold fast”), a variant of Old English clenġan (“to adhere; remain”), from Proto-Germanic *klangijaną, causative of *klinganą (“to stick; adhere”). Related to cling.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /klɛnt͡ʃ/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛntʃ
Verb
clench (third-person singular simple present clenches, present participle clenching, simple past and past participle clenched) (transitive, intransitive)
- To grip or hold fast.
- 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
- Clinch the pointed spear.
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- To close tightly.
- He clenched his fist in anger.
- 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], OCLC 911789798, page 179:
- [She] flung herself / Down on the great King's couch, and writhed upon it, / And clench'd her fingers till they bit the palm, / And shriek'd out 'traitor' to the unhearing wall, […]
Synonyms
- (grip or hold tightly): clasp, clutch, grip; See also Thesaurus:grasp
Antonyms
- unclench
Derived terms
- buttock-clenching (butt-clenching)
- clench-built
- clinch
Translations
to squeeze
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Noun
clench (plural clenches)
- A tight grip.
- (engineering) A seal that is applied to formed thin-wall bushings.
- A local chapter of the Church of the SubGenius parody religion.
- 1989, Ted Schultz, The Fringes of Reason, page 210:
- And perhaps most innovative of all, Drummond and Stang pushed for a policy of clench autonomy […]
- 2003, Peter Knight, Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, page 170:
- Every SubGenius clench is required to have a member who does not believe […]
- 2012, George D. Chryssides, Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, page 95:
- Originality is encouraged, and some clenches have devised their own distinctive organizational names […]
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- (archaic) A pun
- 1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the First”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, OCLC 1033416756, page 1:
- Here one poor word an hundred clenches makes
Translations
tight grip
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seal
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References
- clench at OneLook Dictionary Search
- clench in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911