as in decided
to make final, definite, or beyond dispute
the rain clinched the matter: we would have the party indoors
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Recent Examples of clinched
Anyway, the Sea Lions had already clinched the PacWest season tite and top seeding in the conference playoffs.
—
Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 10 May 2026
Peyton McDevitt also contributed a triple against the Celtics, who clinched at least a tie for the conference title.
—Tony Baranek, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2026
But the Ohio gubernatorial candidate who clinched his party’s nomination this week alluded to bigotry on the right in his opening message to a town hall full of young Republicans.
—Hannah Knowles, Washington Post, 8 May 2026
Stock indexes in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have clinched fresh records in recent trading sessions, bouncing back after tumbling in March.
—John Towfighi, CNN Money, 7 May 2026
Coach Liza Kelly’s Pioneers, which clinched their sixth straight Big East Tournament title with a win over Georgetown last weekend, are making their eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 7 May 2026
Last week, the Cougars clinched the Big VIII League championship and will be one of the favorites to win the Southern Section Division 1 championship when the playoffs begin next week.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
The Mets then roared back, clinched a playoff berth and won two postseason series before pushing the Los Angeles Dodgers to six games and ultimately falling in the NLCS.
—Tim Britton, New York Times, 4 May 2026
The Dragons clinched the series win in style as Jackson Smith and Gavin Morris combined to no hit Boswell.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 May 2026
Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 10 May 2026
Peyton McDevitt also contributed a triple against the Celtics, who clinched at least a tie for the conference title.
—Tony Baranek, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2026
But the Ohio gubernatorial candidate who clinched his party’s nomination this week alluded to bigotry on the right in his opening message to a town hall full of young Republicans.
—Hannah Knowles, Washington Post, 8 May 2026
Stock indexes in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have clinched fresh records in recent trading sessions, bouncing back after tumbling in March.
—John Towfighi, CNN Money, 7 May 2026
Coach Liza Kelly’s Pioneers, which clinched their sixth straight Big East Tournament title with a win over Georgetown last weekend, are making their eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 7 May 2026
Last week, the Cougars clinched the Big VIII League championship and will be one of the favorites to win the Southern Section Division 1 championship when the playoffs begin next week.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
The Mets then roared back, clinched a playoff berth and won two postseason series before pushing the Los Angeles Dodgers to six games and ultimately falling in the NLCS.
—Tim Britton, New York Times, 4 May 2026
The Dragons clinched the series win in style as Jackson Smith and Gavin Morris combined to no hit Boswell.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clinched
Verb
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The company has decided to operate five completion crews for the rest of the year while adding two to three rigs to maintain a sufficient DUC backlog and ensure operational flexibility.—
TipRanks.com Staff,
CNBC,
10 May 2026
-
Kerr ultimately decided to return for another season with Curry and Draymond Green, but there was uncertainty for more than three weeks.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
10 May 2026
Verb
-
Snelling settled in a bit after that opening frame.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
9 May 2026
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For the Ducks, meanwhile, the search for a silver lining to an otherwise dark cloud settled on a third period in which the older Knights clearly ran out of steam.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 May 2026
Verb
-
After some counting—and the consulting of an Excel spreadsheet—the officers determined that Silvia and Guojun were the parents of twenty-one children in total, nearly all under the age of three.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
-
The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.—
Austin Turner,
CBS News,
11 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clinched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clinched. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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