clench

English

A clenched fist.

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 (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntʃ

Verb

clench (third-person singular simple present clenches, present participle clenching, simple past and past participle clenched) (transitive, intransitive)

1. 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:

     Clinch the pointed spear.

2. To close tightly.

   He clenched his fist in anger.

   • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, 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, […]

Usage notes

• In the vast majority of instances, this verb describes the action of a human or animal body part, usually the hand, fingers, fist, claws, jaw, teeth, buttocks, or anus. While such body parts may be said to clench another object, such as a knife clenched in the teeth, it is rare to suggest that an inanimate object such as a vise is itself engaged in clenching. In these cases, a synonym such as clamp, clasp, squeeze, or constrict would be more idiomatic.

Synonyms

• (grip or hold tightly): clasp, clutch, grip; See also Thesaurus:grasp

Antonyms

• unclench

Derived terms

• buttock-clenching (butt-clenching)
• clenchable
• clench-built
• clencher
• clench one's fists
• clenchpoop
• clencht
• clinch
• reclench

 

Translations

to squeeze

• Bulgarian: стискам (bg) (stiskam), свивам (bg) (svivam)
• Catalan: estrènyer (ca), serrar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 咬緊／咬紧 (yǎojǐn), 攥緊／攥紧 (zuànjǐn), 握緊／握紧 (zh) (wòjǐn)

• Czech: sevřít
• Dutch: vastknijpen, ballen (nl) (vuist), samenballen (nl)
• Esperanto: premi (eo)
• Finnish: puristaa (fi)
• French: serrer (fr)
• Friulian: strenzi, strengi
• German: ballen (de) (Fäuste)
• Japanese: 堅く締める (かたくしめる, kataku shimeru), 握り締める (ja) (にぎりしめる, nigirishimeru), 固める (ja) (かためる, katameru)
• Maori: kakati (refers to teeth), kumu (refers to the hand and the mouth), puku (refers to a fist), tetē (the teeth), nenē (the teeth), kuku (the fist)
• Marathi: आवळणे (āvaḷṇe)
• Ngazidja Comorian: ufunya
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: knyte, knytte (no)

• Russian: сжима́ть (ru) impf (sžimátʹ), сжать (ru) pf (sžatʹ), сти́скивать (ru) impf (stískivatʹ), сти́снуть (ru) pf (stísnutʹ)
• Spanish: cerrar (el puño)
• Swedish: knyta (sv)

Noun

clench (plural clenches)

1. A tight grip.
2. (engineering) A seal that is applied to formed thin-wall bushings.
3. 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 […]

4. (archaic) A pun
   • 1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the First”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC, page 1:

     Here one poor word an hundred clenches makes

Translations

tight grip

• Bulgarian: стискане (bg) n (stiskane), свиване (bg) n (svivane)
• Esperanto: premo (eo)
• Finnish: puristus (fi)
• French: prise (fr) f (en main) ferme, poigne (fr) f ferme
• Russian: сжима́ние (ru) n (sžimánije), сти́скивание (ru) n (stískivanije)
• Spanish: traba (es) f

seal

• Russian: зажи́м (ru) (zažím)

References

• “clench”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “clench”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.