Meaning of Clinch | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Any of several fastenings.
2. A surname.
3. The act of bending and hammering the point of a nail so it cannot be removed.
4. A river in Virginia and Tennessee, United States, a tributary of the Tennessee River, named after an 18th century explorer.
5. The act or process of holding fast; that which serves to hold fast.
6. A pun.
   obsolete
7. 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.
8. A passionate embrace.
9. The act of one or both fighters holding onto the other to prevent being hit or engage in standup grappling.
10. A prison sentence.
    archaic, slang

Equivalents

Examples

“to get a good clinch of an antagonist, or of a weapon”

“to secure anything by a clinch”

“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.”

“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 […]”

“COOMBE: He got the clinch only last week — eighteen months. You see it's no good having anybody here as ain't got a^([sic]) unblemished character. We don't want to have the bluebottles come sniffing round here, do we?”

CEFR level