clinched

verb

past tense of clinch
as in decided
to make final, definite, or beyond dispute the rain clinched the matter: we would have the party indoors

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of clinched The Valkyries clinched Game 5 at home at the Chase Center on Monday night 64-55 to move within one game of the team’s first-ever WNBA title. — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026 Morant hit midrange jumpers on consecutive possessions to put Portland up by five, and Lillard clinched the win with his fourth 3-pointer. — CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026 The Milwaukee Brewers clinched the first World Series title in franchise history Wednesday night with a five-game series victory of the Tampa Bay Rays. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 28 Oct. 2026 The Wizards did cut the lead to 3 points late, but free throws and rebounding ultimately clinched the win for Charlotte, who improved to 3-1 on the season. — Charlotte Observer, 27 Oct. 2026 Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Hephzibah coach Daniel Dorsey, whose team clinched its first region title in history last week with a 74-0 victory over Cross Creek. — Todd Holcomb, AJC.com, 27 Oct. 2026 President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva clinched victory out of thin air in Brazil’s weekend election, spurring his challenger to deny the results and the United States to demur from commenting on them. — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 26 Oct. 2026 On the guys’ side, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, who relaunched Public School New York earlier this year, clinched a nomination for menswear designer of the year. — Alexandra Hildreth, Vogue, 22 Oct. 2026 The Daily Mail reports some major catfighting went on backstage, with many participants green with envy assuming that momager Kris Jenner clinched the deal. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clinched
  1. decided
  2. settled
  3. determined
Verb
  • Likely voters who decided which candidate to support only recently in seven key Senate races favor Republicans despite an overall Democratic advantage, according to a new poll released Sunday night.
    — Carter Schroppe, The Washington Examiner, 2 Nov. 2026
  • During a trip to visit one of their company’s labs, the couple decided that the region would be the perfect home to a winery resort.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of decided
Verb
  • When Roddenberry wanted a character who might draw younger viewers to Star Trek, the physical resemblance to the Monkees singer settled the matter.
    — Daniel Ross Goodman, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier this month, Minnesota Vikings fans who’d settled in for the team’s matchup with the Miami Dolphins were surprised to see a Paxton ad show up during one of the in-game breaks.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of settled
Verb
  • The researchers determined how high the barriers must be and their necessary width for electrons to flow through.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Dairy farmers sell into commodity markets where prices are largely determined by global supply and demand, while essential inputs such as feed, fuel and fertilizer costs are driven by many of those same external forces.
    — Jeff Tkach, Forbes.com, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of determined

Browse Nearby Words

clinch
clinched
clincher
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Clinched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clinched. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of candidate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
couple-laugh-cafe
Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
See All