How to Use clinch in a Sentence

clinch

1 of 2 verb
Definition of clinchnext
Synonyms for clinchnext
  • If they win tonight's game they'll clinch the pennant.
  • The new evidence clinches the case.
  • Her work on the project should clinch her a promotion.
  • His home run clinched the victory.
  • The photos of the city have clinched it for me. I have to visit Prague.
  • The Phillies have clinched a wild-card spot and the No. 4 seed.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2023
  • The win clinched a second straight Coastal League title for the Knights (7-3, 6-0).
    — John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Oct. 2023
  • The win clinched the league title for La Jolla (6-2, 3-0).
    — John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Oct. 2023
  • Jordan Love came through against the Bears to clinch Green Bay's playoff berth.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 8 Jan. 2024
  • Not letting the odds get him down, del Potro clinched on, fought and managed to push the reigning champ to five sets.
    — Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 28 Aug. 2023
  • Pagel retired the side with no runners to clinch the title.
    — Jenna Malinowski, Detroit Free Press, 17 June 2023
  • The Phillies went on to win the game against the New York Mets 5-2, bringing the team one step closer to clinching a wild card berth in the playoffs.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 26 Sep. 2023
  • But the 2023 Phillies, who stand to clinch the National League title tonight?
    — Megan Angelo, Vogue, 12 Oct. 2023
  • The Lakers have already clinched a spot in the play-in tournament, but are looking to move up out of the play-in.
    — Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic, 7 Apr. 2023
  • But John Havlicek was the one that made a play for the ages, stealing a 76ers inbounds pass in the final seconds that clinched the game for the Celtics.
    — Conor Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 29 May 2023
  • Wednesday clinched their fifth series sweep in that stretch.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2023
  • Biden went on to effectively clinch the race in the March 17 primaries.
    — Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 11 Dec. 2023
  • The Pirates built a healthy lead in the first three legs of the 400-yard freestyle relay, and Nick Jones widened the gap on the anchor leg to clinch his team’s victory.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2023
  • The Heat will clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker against the 76ers with a win over Philadelphia on Thursday.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2024
  • This victory marked Rosalía as the first female artist to clinch the album of the year award twice as a lead artist.
    — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 16 Nov. 2023
  • Miami had to scratch and claw its way at the end of the year to clinch a spot but failed to move onto the division series.
    — Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 16 Oct. 2023
  • The pass was picked off by Luka Doncic and Irving later clinched it with free throws.
    — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 23 Nov. 2023
  • Maybe a co-ed team will clinch a championship trophy next year.
    — Melissah Yang, refinery29.com, 3 Oct. 2023
  • Westminster pounded out 16 hits, scoring two runs in the first inning, four in the third, two in the fourth and clinched the run-rule win with four more runs in the fifth.
    — Mike Perrin | , al, 13 Apr. 2023
  • Then, Pavon walked off with a clinching birdie and group-mate Nicolai Hojgaard sneaked past Knapp with a birdie of his own.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Jan. 2024
  • Perhaps a clinching factor was that Woods was going to play.
    — WIRED, 9 Nov. 2023
  • This lined up the perfect finish for Rey, who threw himself on top of Escobar to clinch the win.
    — Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024
  • Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made two free throws each to put the game out of reach and clinch the title for Denver.
    — Time, 13 June 2023
  • Having clinched, Dallas now looks to win their way to the best seeding possible.
    — Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 5 Apr. 2023
  • In Hawaii, the Dons managed to keep their set winning streak alive by fighting off Moanalua to win the first set of the finals 33-31 before clinching the crown.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2023
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clinch

2 of 2 noun
  • The referee told the boxers to break their clinch.
  • The Lopes clinch at least a share of the title with a split.
    — Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2021
  • This would be a theme for Gane, tie up the champion and clinch.
    — Nolan King, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2022
  • Quinonez clinches but eats a strong right hand and left hand late.
    — Todd Martin, latimes.com, 11 Feb. 2018
  • In different ways, Aitken would have to earn the clinch of his day-long sweep.
    — Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Oct. 2020
  • Kianzad had some success in the clinch and opened up a cut by the eye of Avila.
    — Todd Martin, latimes.com, 6 July 2019
  • The second is a wedge shape that tapers back down toward the head; this is called a clinch nail.
    — Bradley Ford, Popular Mechanics, 29 June 2022
  • Other than Biles on all four, the safest clinch choice is Lee on uneven bars.
    — David Barron, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 July 2021
  • After a little bit at range, Wilkinson goes back to the clinch.
    — Todd Martin, latimes.com, 11 Feb. 2018
  • Oliveira’s clinch game and knees to the body also had success, as well as his boxing.
    — Nolan King, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2021
  • Nguyen is more active with strikes in the clinch, landing knees and punches.
    — Todd Martin, latimes.com, 11 Feb. 2018
  • The most important knot in fishing is the improved clinch knot.
    — Amanda Monthei, Outside Online, 24 Apr. 2019
  • There were more clinches in the first round of that fight than in the entire Lipinets-Kondo matchup.
    — USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2017
  • The fighters came together in a fourth-round clinch and the referee Mills Lane (!) pushed the men apart.
    — Victor Mather, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2017
  • The next round, a flurry of punches from Shields prompted Kozin to wrap the champion in a clinch.
    — New York Times, 6 Feb. 2022
  • Grigoryan kept his clinch, though, and another throw took it back to the ground.
    — Grant Gordon, latimes.com, 22 Apr. 2018
  • In the opening round, Nunes landed a couple of bombs, which caused Spencer to go for a defensive clinch.
    — Mma Junkie, azcentral, 6 June 2020
  • Font lands a hard straight right hand shortly thereafter and clinches.
    — Todd Martin, latimes.com, 21 Jan. 2018
  • Start in a staggered stance with your right foot back and your hands cupped in a clinch position at head level.
    — Jessica Fecteau, PEOPLE.com, 21 July 2017
  • The last road trip of the year could feature history, a clinch and the end of postseason hopes, all at the Orioles’ expense.
    — Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun, 26 Sep. 2022
  • Jolly worked for a clinch under a right hand from Menifield, but Menifield was able to push Jolly to the cage.
    — Grant Gordon, Glendale News-Press, 25 July 2017
  • After two bloody rounds that looked largely even, Overeem staggered Hunt with a left elbow in a clinch.
    — Greg Beacham, The Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2017
  • With about 40 seconds left in the third round, Tyson bit a chunk off Holyfield’s right ear during a clinch and spit it onto the canvas.
    — Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, 27 Nov. 2019
  • In the final minute of the third, Fury stunned Wilder with a shot and then escaped a clinch to land a two-punch combination that put Wilder down to his knees.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 10 Oct. 2021
  • With Embiid ailing, Simmons refused to take over and lead the Sixers to the brink of a series clinch.
    — Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 17 June 2021
  • By then, some of the fans who’d come to see Djokovic clinch a Grand Slam had managed to loudly harass Medvedev into double faults.
    — Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021
  • During the fight itself, Clay, in the clinches, said many things about white people, trying to hit me again with that Uncle Tom thing.
    — Floyd Patterson, Esquire, 5 June 2016
  • Cormier was getting the best of it, using hand fighting and clinches to bloody up Miocic’s face.
    — Troy L. Smith, cleveland.com, 18 Aug. 2019
  • My wife just spotted a photo of me on Facebook in a hot clinch with another woman.
    — Joyce Wadler, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2017
  • Hotel room prices in Liverpool had soared for prospective clinch dates.
    — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 25 June 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clinch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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