To Clench or To Clinch … That Is the Question
The Grammar Guru has received a request to explain the difference between these two words, to settle a fellow-editor’s dispute with her typesetter. Always glad to oblige — we editors need to keep those uppity typesetters in their places.
According to Fowler, clinch is a variant of clench that appeared in the sixteenth century and has been considered a separate word ever since. In general, clinch is the preferred spelling, unless you are dealing with teeth, fingers, or fists.
Clench means to hold the teeth or fists tightly together, or to contract (like a muscle).
Clinch means to resolve decisively, to flatten the end of a nail, to embrace while pinning the arms to the sides (as in boxing or wrestling), or to hold passionately.
Example: The wrestler clenched his teeth as he wriggled, trying to disengage himself from his opponent’s clinching hold on him.
Hope this clears everything up!
1 Comment
And in courts we talk of clinching evidence. Does that mean evidence that passionately clings to the case being made out?