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): /klɛntʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɛntʃ

Verb

(transitive, intransitive)

1. To grip or hold fast.
2. To close tightly.

   He clenched his fist in anger.

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

• unclench

Derived terms

• clinch

Translations

to squeeze

• Bulgarian: стискам (bg) (stiskam), свивам (bg) (svivam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 咬緊／咬紧, 咬紧 (yǎojǐn), 攥緊／攥紧, 攥紧 (zuànjǐn), 握緊／握紧 (zh), 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: ballen (de) (Fäuste)
• Japanese: 堅く締める (かたくしめる, kataku shimeru), 握り締める (にぎりしめる, nigirishimeru), 固める (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)
• 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)

Noun

clench (plural clenches)

1. 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 […]

Translations

tight grip

• Bulgarian: стискане (bg) n (stiskane), свиване (bg) n (svivane)
• Esperanto: premo
• Finnish: puristus (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: сжима́ние (ru) n (sžimánije), сти́скивание n (stískivanije)

seal

• Russian: зажи́м (ru) (zažím)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

References

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