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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As the infection takes hold, a patient’s jaw clenches, forcing the face into what appears to be a wide smile, and the back muscles contort into a painful arch.—
Mustafa Fattah,
NBC news,
24 Dec. 2025
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When the sky darkens, her stomach clenches.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Keeping that hardshell closed is a pair of wide, beefy aluminum latches with a lower swing arm that clasps to a closure bar via a pair of hooks.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
13 Dec. 2025
Verb
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But the Bulls also can’t win with his current rim protection — a futility that hangs over the veteran in every game.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Jan. 2026
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The chef’s kitchen sits just opposite a more casual bar, and a fanciful lighting fixture hangs over the dining table.—
Tori Latham,
Robb Report,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Colin Farrell reprised his role as Oz Cobb on HBO's The Penguin, which ties into the events of The Batman Part II.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Jan. 2026
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An insurgency that ties the United States down in Venezuela would delight Beijing and Russia.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
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San Fran clinches playoff ticket with win or a loss by Lions.—
Greg Cote
December 18,
Miami Herald,
18 Dec. 2025
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Denver clinches the division title with a win and a Chargers’ loss or a tie and a Chargers loss.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
17 Dec. 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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This is an adjustable graphics-card brace, and its screw tightens the part that clamps it to the slide.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
21 Oct. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Latches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/latches. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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