different between latch vs clinch

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: l?ch, IPA^(key): /læt?/
• Rhymes: -æt?

Etymology 1

From Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læ??an (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjan?, *lakwijan?, *lakkijan? (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh?g-, *(s)leh?g?- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
2. (transitive) To catch; lay hold of.

Derived terms

• latch on
• latch on to
• latch onto

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English latche, lacche (“a latch; a trap”), from lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”), from Old English læ??an (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”). See above for more.

Noun

latch (plural latches)

1. A fastening for a door that has a bar that fits into a notch or slot, and is lifted by a lever or string from either side.
   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 4

     The cleverly constructed latch which Clayton had made for the door had sprung as Kerchak passed out; nor could the apes find means of ingress through the heavily barred windows.

2. A flip-flop electronic circuit
3. (obsolete) A latching.
4. (obsolete) A crossbow.
5. (obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of The Romaunt of the Rose to this entry?)

6. A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
7. (databases) A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.

Derived terms

• on the latch

Translations

Alternative forms

• lech, letch

Etymology 3

Compare French lécher (“to lick”).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

1. (obsolete) To smear; to anoint.

English

Etymology

16th-century alteration of clench.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kl?nt?/
• Rhymes: -?nt?

Verb

clinch (third-person singular simple present clinches, present participle clinching, simple past and past participle clinched)

1. To clasp; to interlock. [from 1560s]
2. To make certain; to finalize. [from 1716]
3. To fasten securely or permanently.
4. To bend and hammer the point of (a nail) so it cannot be removed. [17th century]
5. To embrace passionately.
6. To hold firmly; to clench.
7. To set closely together; to close tightly.
   • 1731, Jonathan Swift, The Duty of Servants at Inns

     try if the heads of the nails be fast, and whether they be well clinched

Synonyms

• (fasten securely): attach, join, put together; see also Thesaurus:join
• (hold firmly): clasp, grasp, grip; See also Thesaurus:grasp

Translations

Noun

clinch (plural clinches)

1. Any of several fastenings.
2. The act or process of holding fast; that which serves to hold fast; a grip or grasp.

3. (obsolete) A pun.
4. (nautical) A hitch or bend by which a rope is made fast to the ring of an anchor, or the breeching of a ship's gun to the ringbolts.
5. A passionate embrace.
   • 2015, Judith Arnold, Moondance

     More likely, he was letting her know that his visit this morning was not going to end in a clinch—or something steamier. It was going to be about sitting at a table, drinking coffee and talking.

6. In combat sports, the act of one or both fighters holding onto the other to prevent being hit or engage in standup grappling.

Translations

See also

• clinch on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• clench
• clincher
• clinch nut