clincher

[ klin-cher ]

noun

1. a person or thing that clinches.
2. 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.

3. a nail, screw, etc., for clinching.
4. Automotive. a clincher tire.

clincher

/ ˈklɪntʃə /

noun

1. informal.
   something decisive, such as a fact, score, etc
2. a person or thing that clinches

Word History and Origins

Origin of clincher¹

1485–95; variant of Middle English clencher ( clench + -er ¹ )

Example Sentences

She had a fever, chills and trouble breathing, but the real clincher was her loss of smell.

From Science News

Colorado outscored Tampa 20-15 in the Cup final, getting to Vasilevskiy for a shocking seven goals in Game 2 and later suffocating the Lightning offense in the clincher.

From FiveThirtyEight

Even sometimes-maligned Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper was sharp in the clincher, stopping 22 of 23 Lightning shots Sunday night.

From FiveThirtyEight

You’ll even sleep more soundly and, as a clincher, have a better sex life.

From Time

He, too, looked damn near unplayable defensively early in the Finals, but Bud stuck with him, and he came through with 16 points off the bench in the clincher as the delirious crowd repeatedly chanted his name.

From FiveThirtyEight

This was a clincher—assorted worthies sent their own medals back in protest but everyone else was delighted.

From The Daily Beast

The real clincher, though, is that their only instruments are a drum set and dozens of beer bottles.

From The Daily Beast

The doubling of images of, say, the finger when the eyeball is pressed, is frequently proffered as a clincher.

From Project Gutenberg

In the South an expression of this kind is very often added on as a sort of clincher to give emphasis.

From Project Gutenberg

This last was a clincher and the obscurantic antisalts received the deathblow they richly deserved.

From Project Gutenberg

And he backed his assertion with an oath, swallowing off the contents of his glass by way of a clincher.

From Project Gutenberg

It is a clincher which no sophistry can set aside, no reasoning can grapple with, and no logic overthrow.

From Project Gutenberg