How to Use clinch in a Sentence

clinch

1 of 2 verb
  • 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.
  • All four squads have clinched a spot in the playoffs.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Colombia needs a win or a draw to clinch the top spot in the group.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 26 June 2026
  • Reds clinch with Mets loss on final day.
    — Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer, 28 Sep. 2025
  • The Hawks have clinched a spot in the playoffs.
    — Lauren Williams, AJC.com, 11 Apr. 2026
  • The Padres clinched their spot in the playoffs.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Their magic number to clinch the fifth seed is two.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Senegal hasn't quite clinched a spot in the knockout round just yet.
    — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 27 June 2026
  • But the most consistent method to clinch the dance was to look the part.
    — Alexandra Starr, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
  • San Diego clinched a playoff spot last weekend.
    — Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Apr. 2026
  • The Ducks could clinch a playoff spot this weekend.
    — Greg Beacham, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Coventry has clinched the title.
    — ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026
  • The Valkyries could have clinched their spot another time.
    — Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Maybe a co-ed team will clinch a championship trophy next year.
    — Melissah Yang, refinery29.com, 3 Oct. 2023
  • Japan finished with silver and Italy clinched the bronze.
    — Annasofia Scheve, San Antonio Express-News, 9 Feb. 2026
  • The Sailors have clinched second place in the league standings.
    — Michael Huntley, Oc Register, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Megan Keller's sudden-death goal in overtime clinched the gold.
    — Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 20 Feb. 2026
  • Montreal can clinch the title with a win.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 20 May 2026
  • Ashley won to clinch her spot in part 3 against Morgan.
    — David Wysong, Cincinnati Enquirer, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Pittsburgh would clinch the division with a tie.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 4 Jan. 2026
  • Shiffrin has already clinched the season slalom title.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2026
  • Evans finished on a 7-2 to run to clinch its third straight state tourney berth.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Mar. 2026
  • The Padres can clinch a playoff spot as soon as Monday.
    — Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Sep. 2025
  • The Mariners lead 2-1 and can clinch with a victory.
    — Data Skrive, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • The Dodgers lead 2-1 and would clinch with a victory.
    — Data Skrive, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
  • For Mexico, that win clinched a spot in the knockout round.
    — Mark Hodge, NBC news, 19 June 2026

clinch

2 of 2 noun
  • The referee told the boxers to break their clinch.
  • Quinonez clinches but eats a strong right hand and left hand late.
    — Todd Martin, latimes.com, 11 Feb. 2018
  • And a day full of clinches did not happen.
    — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
  • This would be a theme for Gane, tie up the champion and clinch.
    — Nolan King, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2022
  • Font lands a hard straight right hand shortly thereafter and clinches.
    — Todd Martin, latimes.com, 21 Jan. 2018
  • Nguyen is more active with strikes in the clinch, landing knees and punches.
    — 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
  • Oliveira’s clinch game and knees to the body also had success, as well as his boxing.
    — Nolan King, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2021
  • 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
  • After a little bit at range, Wilkinson goes back to the clinch.
    — Todd Martin, latimes.com, 11 Feb. 2018
  • 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 most important knot in fishing is the improved clinch knot.
    — Amanda Monthei, Outside Online, 24 Apr. 2019
  • Grigoryan kept his clinch, though, and another throw took it back to the ground.
    — Grant Gordon, latimes.com, 22 Apr. 2018
  • Other than Biles on all four, the safest clinch choice is Lee on uneven bars.
    — David Barron, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 July 2021
  • 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 Padres will at some point clinch a playoff berth, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Hotel room prices in Liverpool had soared for prospective clinch dates.
    — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 25 June 2020
  • Schneider will hand the ball from reliever to reliever hoping to tight-walk to a road clinch.
    — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • 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
  • There were more clinches in the first round of that fight than in the entire Lipinets-Kondo matchup.
    — USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 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
  • Panthers are at 118 points with five games left, allowing for a clinch before that finale.
    — Steve Svekis, Sun Sentinel, 22 Apr. 2022
  • All of their fans were long gone from Progressive Field when this clinch became official.
    — USA TODAY, 16 Sep. 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
  • 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
  • The clinch cover embraced design excess and its roots in pulp illustration.
    — Hazlitt, 8 Feb. 2023
  • The art of grappling consists of throws, trips, sweeps, clinches, ground fighting, submission holds and takedowns.
    — Steve Gorches, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2026
  • 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
  • This new find clinches that notion with fossil evidence, and helps flesh out the fate of birds during this crucial time period.
    — Carolyn Gramling, Science | AAAS, 10 July 2017
  • 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

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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