To close or squeeze tightly, especially the hands, teeth, or muscles. To grip or hold firmly in a determined or tense manner.
From Middle English clenchen, from Old English beclencan meaning 'to hold fast' or 'make cling.' Related to cling and clinch, all sharing the sense of tight holding or gripping.
Clench, cling, and clinch all come from the same ancient root about tight holding, but each developed its own specialty - clench for body parts, cling for emotional attachment, and clinch for decisive victories. The subtle differences show how one physical action spawned a whole family of related concepts.
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