clinch

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To set closely together; to close tightly; as, to clinch the teeth or the first. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To make conclusive; to confirm; to establish; as, to clinch an argument. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To hold fast; to grasp something firmly; to seize or grasp one another. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A pun. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, clinches; that which holds fast. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which ends a dispute or controversy; a decisive argument. [ 1913 Webster ]