clenching

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English

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Verb

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clenching

  1. present participle and gerund of clench

Noun

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clenching (plural clenchings)

  1. The act by which something (a fist, a jaw, etc.) is clenched.
    • 1965, Edward J. Murray, Sleep, dreams, and arousal, page 151:
      Many of the clenchings [of muscles] were uncoordinated, and one would guess that they occurred more and more as the sleep synchronized.

Adjective

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clenching (comparative more clenching, superlative most clenching)

  1. Alternative form of clinching (that settles something definitely)
    • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
      Possibly I might be blamed a bit for my truantry, but the recapture of the Hispaniola was a clenching answer, and I hoped that even Captain Smollett would confess I had not lost my time.