clench

English

A clenched fist.

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.

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

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.
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, […]

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.

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)

clench (plural clenches)

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

tight grip

seal

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