clench

«clench» in Mova's school dictionary: to press them tightly together — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (clench, clenches, clenched, clenching)

meaning for a pupil

1) To clench your fists or teeth means to press them tightly together. tree →

2) To clench something means to hold it very tightly. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories clenched fists or a clenched jaw show that a character is angry, scared, in pain or trying hard not to cry. In everyday life people clench their teeth when they are tense; at the dentist you may be told to unclench. In PE you might clench your muscles to hold a position. Phrases: «clench your fists», «clench your teeth», «through clenched teeth».

examples

• He clenched his fists in anger. tree →
• She clenched her teeth and kept going. tree →
• «I am fine,» he said through clenched teeth. tree →
• Try not to clench your jaw when you are worried. tree →
• The baby clenched my finger in her tiny hand. tree →
• Unclench your hands and take a deep breath. tree →
• Tom clenched the rope as he climbed. tree →
• My stomach clenched with fear. tree →
• Ugly monkeys sat high in the branches and clenched their teeth. tree →

note

Regular verb: clenched, clenching. «Clench» is usually for fists, teeth, jaw; «clutch» or «grip» is for holding objects. Clenching your teeth a lot, even in sleep, can hurt your jaw — tell an adult if your jaw aches.

In the corpora

• A red face, clenched fists or a tight jaw and a loud voice are signs of anger.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «clench» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.