Definition of clinch

• v. t. - To hold firmly; to hold fast by grasping or embracing tightly.
• v. t. - To set closely together; to close tightly; as, to clinch the teeth or the first.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - To make conclusive; to confirm; to establish; as, to clinch an argument.
• v. i. - To hold fast; to grasp something firmly; to seize or grasp one another.
• n. - 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.
• n. - A pun.
• n. - 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.