clench 
The tops I could fust reach with my lists clinched. 
Swift. 
Clench'd her fingers till they hit the palm. 
'/' luitfumi, Lancelot and Klainc. 
I know you, said Kve, clewhinij lu-r teeth and In-r little 
fl8t. C. Jielllh', I.OVr NIC Little, |X)VC TIIC Long. 
4. To grasp or seize firmly or convulsively; 
gripe. 
Hi- sette him on the lienche 
His harpc fur in i-lfiiclie. 
Kiw, //, (K. K. T. S.), 1. 1476. 
His heart clenched the idea as a diver grasps a gem. 
lh .-/</ //, < 'nniiiynliy, vii. 7. 
6. Figuratively, to fix or secure by a finishing 
touch or blow ; confirm, us an argument or an 
action, in some unanswerable or irresistible 
way; establish firmly. 
But the Cuimcil (if Trent goes much further, and iV//i.7i 
fth the liu-.inrss as cJteetu:il]\ a- l>o^il.!e. Xix/tt,. 
Aubrey not only refirsed to marry his cousin, ]t\\l clenched 
his refusal hy marrying some one aba. 
Warffn, Teli Thoiiund a Year. 
A taunt that dench'd his purpose like a blow ! 
Tennyion, 1'riuccM, v. 
6. Nant., to calk slightly with oakum, in antici- 
pation of foul weather. 
II. intrann. 1. To gripe. 2. To seize or 
gripe another, or one another, with a firm grasp 
or hold, as in wrestling: as, the men elem-ln'il. 
3t. To pun. 
In his time [Sir Cliilip Sidney's], I believe, it [clenching] 
ascended nrst Into the pulpit, where, if you will ^ive rue 
leave to clench too, it yet finds tile benefit of it-* clergy. 
Vrydeii, Del. of Epil. to 2d pt. t'ouq. of Granada. 
clench, Clinch (klench, klinch), n. [< clench, 
i-liiicli, r.] 1. A catch; a grip; a persistent 
clutch. 
. 
Kil 1 
of thecosomatotis ptrropodx, of the family //y- 
uliriilir (or I'nrtitiniilii'), having a straight tri- 
angular shell, sharp-pointed 
behind, with a triangular 
oral aperture in front, f. 
pyramitlata is an exani)>li>. 
I'eron and Lesueur, 1810. 
2. In entom.: (n) A gi-nus 
of coleopterous insects. Mul- 
XUHl. (I,) A gemi* Of lepi- 
dopterous insects. Strfilinix, 
1834. (c)AgenUSofdipterOUS 
insects. l)<-xe<iit\y. 1863. 
Cleodoridae (kle-o-dor'i-de), . i>l. [NL., < 
ilnrii, 1, 4- -/>/.] A family of pteropods, named 
by J. E. Gray in 1840 from the genus rii-tnlnni. 
Cleomachean (kle-o-ma'ke-an), r. and . I. n, 
Of or pertaining to Oleomachus, a Greek tmifir 
poet of the fifth century B. c. : as, the Clevma- 
chean verse or meter. Bee II. 
II. n. In anc. pros., a verse consisting of 
Ionics a majoro in dimeters, with contraction 
in the last foot of each dimeter, and admitting 
of anaclasis, so that its scheme is 
cleptomania 
2. To call to one's self ; invite ; summon. 
Heclupede to him his chaiimlicrlaj m . 
/ '*i i> ana lilaunchejtur, 1. 607. 
l|p . ,///,.,/ hym his clerken. 
luaiiii'l' /.;'"<"''"' (C. U. I - ), I. 830. 
Cleome (kle-o'me), . [NL. (Linnaeus), < LL. 
cleome, an unidentified plant ; origin uncertain. 
The NL. term is referred by some to Gr. ideietv, 
shut (see rfose 1 , r. ), in reference to the parts of 
the flower.] A large genus of herbaceous and 
shrubby plants, natural order Capnaridnnn. 
natives principally of tropical America, Egypt, 
He grasped his stole 
With convulsed clenches. 
Keat. 
Inside Clench. 
Outside Clench. 
2. That which holds fast or clenches; aclench- 
er (or clincher) ; a holdfast. 
I believe in yon, but that's not enough : 
Give my conviction a clinch. 
Broipninff, Master Hngues of Saxe-Gotha. 
3. Naut., a mode of fastening large ropes, con- 
sisting of a half -hitch with the end stopped back 
to its part by 
seizings. The 
outer end of a 
hawser is bent 
by a clench to 
the ring of the 
anchor. E. H. 
Knight. 4f. A 
pun or play on 
words. 
The ladles smile, and with their fans delight 
To whisk a clinch aside, then all goes right. 
Beau, and ft., Epil. to Wit at Several Weapons. 
Nay, he (Ben Jonsou] was not free from the lowest 
and most groveling kind of wit, which we call clenches, of 
which " Every Man In his Humour" is infinitely full, and, 
which is worse, the wittiest persons in the drama speak 
them. Dn/den, Uef. of Epil. to 2d pt. Conq. of Granada. 
6. A mode of securing a nail, staple, or the like, 
by turning over the point and hammering back 
into the wood the portion bent over. 
clench-bolt (klench'bolt), n. A bolt with one 
end designed to be bent over to prevent with- 
drawal. 
clencher, clincher (klen'-, klin'oh6r), n. 1. 
One who clenches, or that which is used for 
clenching, as a cramp or piece of iron bent 
down to fasten anything. 2. A tool used for 
clenching or bending over the point of a nail, 
to prevent its withdrawal. 3. A retort or re- 
ply so decisive as to close a controversy; an 
unanswerable argument : as, the bishop's letter 
is a clencher. 
clench-nail (klench'nal), n. A nail made of 
such material that it can be clenched Rove 
Clench-nail, a clench-nail with a square end : so named 
from the mode of using such nails in bout-building, where 
they are clenched liy hammering down the end, or by pla- 
cing over it a little diamond-shaped piece of metal called 
a i-iii-c. and riveting the end of the clench-nail down upon 
it, thus drawing the planks (irmly together. 
clench-ring (klench ' ring), . A lap-ring, or 
open ring m which the parts on the sides of the 
opening overlap each other. E. H. Knight. 
clenet, A Middle English form of clean. 
clengt, v. An obsolete form of cling. 
clenk (klenk), c. A dialectal form of clink. 
clentt, a. [ME. Cf. dint*, dinty.'] Steep; high: 
rocky. 
The ship ay shot furth o the shire waghes, 
As qwo clymbe at a clyffe, or a dent hille, 
Eft dump in the dene as all drowne wolde. 
Destruction vf Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1995. 
Cleodora ( kle-o-do'ra), n. [NL., < Gr. i 
name of a Dauaid and of a nymph.] 1. A genus 
66 
Cleome sfinosa. 
and Arabia. Many of the species have showy 
flowers, and a few are cultivated for ornament, 
as C. spinosa, C. rosea, etc. 
Cleonidaet (kle-on'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Cleonus 
+ -idee.'] A family of coleopterous insects, 
named from the genus Cleonus. Kirby, 1837. 
Cleonus (kle-6'nus), n. [NL. (Schonherr, 1826) ; 
also Cleonis (Megerle, 1821).] A large genus 
of Curculionidce or weevils, characterized by 
an elongate and convex body, a short and thick 
rostrum, and apical antenna with their second 
.joint longer than the third. The genus Is repre- 
sented by 12 species In the United States, and there are 
upward of 185 in all. Several feed upon the pine and the 
larch. 
clepe (klep), r. ; pret. and pp. clepcd, clept, 
ycleped, yclept, ppr. cleping. [E. dial, clip; < 
ME. depot, clepien, cleopien, clupien, clipien, < 
AS. cleopian, clypian, cliinan = ONorth. cliopia, 
clioppia, call, cry out. Connections unknown.] 
I. in trans. To give a call; cry out; appeal. 
He ryches hym to ryse, & rapes hym sone, 
Clepen to his chamberlayu, choscs his wede. 
Sir Oawayne and the Green Kniyht (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1310. 
Clej>e at his dore, or knokke with a stoon. 
Chanter, Miller's Tale. 1. 246. 
Cleping for vengeance of this treachery. 
Mir. for Mays., p. 447. 
To the gode I clejie 
For true record of this my faithful speech. 
Xurtttn and Sackviue, Gorboduc. 
II. trans. 1. To call ; call upon; cry out to. 
In tribulacioun thou iuwardli clepiditt me. 
Wydif, Ps. lx. 8. 
Than he leet rlf t ,e In ulle the I,,rdc-. Dial In made vny. 
den llrst out of hi* rliainhre. .I/"/"/, . !!, Travels, p. 138. 
3. To call by the name of; name. 
The sterre transim.ntmie. that H <-l>-i>i the >terre of the 
ee. Miiiiitrri/l,-, I ravels (ed. Halliwell), p. ISO. 
They cle/ir us drunkards, ami with swinish phrase 
Soil our addition. .S'/mi.. Hamlet, I. I. 
Judas I am. //.iv/,.,; Machabntu. ShaJc., I.. I.. I*, r. 2. 
lint come, thon m,ddc-s fair and free, 
In Heaven !/./;// Kuphrosyne. 
Milton, l.'Allegro, 1. 12. 
[The word is now used only archaically, chiefly 
in the past participle. ] 
clepet, a. [< clepe, v.] A cry; an appeal; a 
call. 
With clepet and cries. Sur/v;/. Km-id, ii. 
clepps (kleps), . [E. dial., prob. var. of r/i/* 1 , n. 
(I. c/i///i', rtaml, .] A wooden instrument 
for pulling weeds out of corn. Grose. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
clepsammia (klep-sam'i-ii), . ; pi. eteptammta 
(-e). [NL., < (!r. K/tvrtiv (iAe^>.), steal, + a/t- 
fiof, sand.] An instrument, as an hour-giant*, 
for measuring time by the dropping or flowing 
of sand. 
Clepsine (klep-si'ne), n. [NL., < Or. rif^ta, 
theft, < K/i-niv, steal.] A genus of the order 
Hirudinea, including some of the lower forms 
of leeches, in which the sinus and other v ' 
form a continuous system of cavities contain- 
ing blood, and in which the segmental organs 
open into the sinuses by ciliated apertures. 
It is the typical genus of the family Clepttinidte. 
C. bioculata is an example. Savigny, 1817. 
Clepsinea (klep-sin'e-ft), n. pi. [NL., < Clcjmne 
-f- -ea.] A tribe of leeches, containing the 
family Clepxinida; or Glossoporidte, character- 
ized by the development of a protrusile probos- 
cis to the mouth. 
Clepsinidae (klep-sin'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Clepsine + -idee.} A family of suctorial anne- 
lids, or leeches, of the order Hirudinea, typified 
by the genus Clepsine : by some called (llosso- 
i>oridte. 
clepsydra (klep ' si - dra), . ; pi. clepsydras 
(-draz) or clejisydra; (-dre). [< L. clepsydra, 
< Gr. K'/.eif>i'Spa, < K'MVTUV (K/^^-), steal, hide, 
+ iifupj water: see tcater.) 1. A device for 
measuring time by the amount of water dis- 
charged from a vessel through a small aperture, 
the quantity discharged in a given unit of time, 
as an hour, being first determined, in the older 
clepsydras the hours were measured 
by the sinking of the surface of the 
water in the vessel containing it. In 
others the water ran from one vessel 
into another, there leing in the lower 
a piece of cork or light wood, which 
as the vessel filled rose and thus 
indicated the hour. In later clepsydras 
the hours have 
1 .Af^Z\ 
m 
been indicated by 
a dial. In flg. 2, 
the float, .1 . Is at- 
tached to the end 
of a chain, which 
is wound around 
the spindle, B, and 
has at ita other ex- 
tremity the coun- 
terweight, C. When 
water is admitted 
from the cistern,/), 
the float rises, and 
the counterweight 
descends and turns 
. Clepsydra from an antique sea 
dieval Clepsydra. 
the spindle, on the end of which is a hand which marks 
the hours on a dial as in a clock. In modern times a mer- 
curial clepsydra has been employed for the exact measure- 
ment of very short intervals, the amount of mercury flow- 
ing out being determined by a balance. 
2. A chemical vessel. Jolinxon. 3t. [tap.] 
[NL.] In zool., a genus of mollusks; the water- 
ing-pot shells: now called Aspergillum. Schu- 
macher, 1817. 
cleptt. Preterit and past participle of clepe. 
Clepticinae (klep-ti-si'ne), n.pl. [NL., < Clep- 
ticus, 1, + -inte.] A subfamily of labroid fishes, 
represented by the genus Clepticus. The eyes 
are in the hinder part of the head, and the jaws 
are very protractile. 
CleptiCuS (klep'ti-kus), n. [NL.] 1. In irhth., 
a genus of labroid fishes, typical of the sub- 
family Clejiticinn- or < 'lepticifarme*. Cuvier, 1829. 
2. In entom., a genus of hymenopterous in- 
sects. . 
cleptomania, kleptomania (klep-to-ma'ni-$), 
. [NL., < Gr. rtfirretv, steal. + fiavia. madness.] 
A mania for pilfering; a supposed species of 
