different between flench vs clench

English

Verb

flench (third-person singular simple present flenches, present participle flenching, simple past and past participle flenched)

1. Alternative form of flense

English

Etymology

From Middle English clenchen, from Old English clen?an (“to clinch; hold fast”), a variant of Old English clen?an (“to adhere; remain”), from Proto-Germanic *klangijan?, causative of *klingan? (“to stick; adhere”). Related to cling.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kl?nt?/
• Rhymes: -?nt?

Verb

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

1. To grip or hold fast.

   • Clinch the pointed spear.

2. To close tightly.

Synonyms

• (grip or hold tightly): clasp, clutch, grip; See also Thesaurus:grasp

Antonyms

• unclench

Derived terms

• clinch

Translations

Noun

clench (plural clenches)

1. Tight grip.
2. (engineering) A seal that is applied to formed thin-wall bushings.
3. A local chapter of the Church of the SubGenius parody religion.
4. (archaic) A pun

   • Here one poor word an hundred clenches makes

Translations

References

• clench at OneLook Dictionary Search
• clench in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.