clincher
Americannoun
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a person or thing that clinches.
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a statement, argument, fact, situation, or the like, that is decisive or conclusive.
The heat was the clincher that made us decide to leave the city.
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a nail, screw, etc., for clinching.
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Automotive. a clincher tire.
noun
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informal something decisive, such as a fact, score, etc
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a person or thing that clinches
Etymology
Origin of clincher
1485–95; variant of Middle English clencher ( clench + -er 1 )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The AI race could well be the clincher.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
The defence flagged alarmingly late on, losing speed and structure as Argentina scored a last-minute try and came within metres of a last-play clincher.
From BBC • Nov. 23, 2025
Then again, Walker Buehler wasn’t part of the Dodgers’ plans for their World Series clincher last year.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2025
Then he delivers the clincher line in English while flourishing a finger-heart: “I like . . . you.”
From Salon • Jan. 5, 2025
Everyone’s excited, slapping each other's hands, and I feel it, too: a sense that this is the clincher, that we’ve done it, that my girl is saved.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
