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clincher

[klin-cher]
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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.
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Origin of clincher

1485–95; variant of Middle English clencher (clench + -er1)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for clincher

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The movie-maker was in his element now, delivering the clincher in an argument.

    Reel Life Films

    Samuel Kimball Merwin

  • This proved a clincher, and the lumbermen changed the subject.

    For the Liberty of Texas

    Edward Stratemeyer

  • Late in 1813, appeared the “Book of Wonders,” “in five parts,” and it was a clincher.

  • The last remark was intended as a clincher to settle the affair.

    True Blue

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • She paused, then, for clincher, threw out: He dines here to-morrow.

    The Monster

    Edgar Saltus

British Dictionary definitions for clincher

clincher

noun
  1. informal something decisive, such as a fact, score, etc
  2. a person or thing that clinches
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for clincher

n.

early 14c., "person or thing that clinches" (i.e., secures nails by bending down or riveting the pointed end), late 15c. as a class of shipyard worker; agent noun from clinch (v.). As a type of nail, from 1735; as a conclusive statement, argument, etc., 1737.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper