as in clenches
to close or secure (something, such as a door) with a latch
latch the gate
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Recent Examples of latches
Typically said when someone copies a trend, latches onto a friend's obsession, or just teases in a playful way.
—
Annabelle Canela, Parents, 5 Sep. 2025
That against-the-odds spirit is what the documentary crew latches onto as the thread tying their story together.
—Andy Meek, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Annabelle Canela, Parents, 5 Sep. 2025
That against-the-odds spirit is what the documentary crew latches onto as the thread tying their story together.
—Andy Meek, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for latches
Verb
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When the sky darkens, her stomach clenches.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
1 Oct. 2025
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In a similar way, a man who is defiant stiffens his neck, squares his shoulders, lowers his brows, and clenches his fists with his knuckles forward.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The chain is routed through the center of the buoy, passes over a gypsy wheel, and descends again, while excess chain hangs freely to accommodate movement.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Oct. 2025
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An abstract painting by Tuscaloosa, Alabama, artist Kristin Blakeney hangs over the mantel in the family room.—
Betsy Cribb Watson,
Southern Living,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Thinking of patriotism this way ties it more closely to solidarity.—
Belinda Luscombe,
Time,
13 Oct. 2025
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By the end, only one of the assassins is alive; Brian ties him to a tree and slaps him around a bit, demanding to know who hired him.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Dow clinches record high The Dow on Friday clinched its first closing record high of the year.—
John Towfighi,
CNN Money,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The sequencer pastes together the strings and the quality scores, along with some other metadata, read by read, to form what is called a FASTQ file.—
Dmitri Pavlichin,
IEEE Spectrum,
22 Aug. 2018
Verb
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Here, Lloyd clamps a muzzle — part fetish club, part Bane — over Lucky’s mouth while Pozzo pushes him in a wheelchair (the actor, Michael Patrick Thornton, uses a chair).—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Parsley is a biennial that quickly bolts and dies the second year, and since second-year parsley is bitter, it’s typically grown as an annual.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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According to Einstein, massive objects shape the space around them, as their gravity bends space-time, curving paths of light rays near by.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
10 Oct. 2025
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From the other side, the highway takes off in Madison and then bends off the main road to the charming town of New Glarus.—
Scott Dochterman,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Latches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/latches. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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