Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Origin: Probably from clench

clinch

1 verb
     
clinch1
1 [transitive] to finally agree on something or get something after trying very hard:
a young salesman eager to clinch the deal
clinch a match/championship/victory etc
A last-minute touchdown clinched the game.
2

clinch it

informal if an event, situation, process etc clinches it, it makes someone finally decide to do something that they were already thinking of doing:
We'd talked about moving, and the burglary clinched it for us.
3 [intransitive] if two people clinch, they hold each other's arms tightly, especially when fighting
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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