clinchern.
/ˈklɪnʃə/ One who or that which clinches.† 1. Formerly, A workman who clinched the bolts in ship-building. Obsolete.† 5. A punster. Obsolete.† 6. A clinker-built vessel. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > boat-builder or shipbuilder > [noun] > in specific trade or type of work
clincher1495
ship-carpenter1495
clinger1538
clencher1559
clinker1656
converter1811
square-maker1850
ship smith1858
red leader1882
chippy chap1903
stager1927
1495 Act 11 Hen. VII c. 22 The wages of a Maister Shipwright by the day iiijd..An able clyncher by the day iid.
1538 A. Fitzherbert Loffice & Auctoryte Iustiyes de Peas f. xciij An able Clincher [shal take] by the day ij d. and without meat and drinke iiij. d.
1651 Assessment in J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices (modernized text) VI. 695 Mastershipwright, 4 under him; Hewers or common shipwrights; Able clincher; Able holder; Master calker; Calkers labouring by tide; Mean calker.
1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 15.
2. A nail, etc. used for clinching.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > nail > clinch-nail
clinch-nail1626
clinch1659
clincher1725
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. v. 318 With [wimbles] he pierc'd 'em, and with clinchers bound.
3. A tool for clinching nails.
ΚΠ
1874 in E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech.
4. A conclusive statement, argument, etc.; a ‘finisher’, ‘settler’. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > [noun] > that which > concluding action, utterance, etc. > conclusive act, utterance, etc.
clincher1737
settler1744
dernier mot1834
the last word1842
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > [noun] > conclusive proof or argument
proving?c1225
demonstrationa1393
warranta1450
satisfaction1584
clunchfist1590
ergo1590
apodixis1646
ergotism1656
clinker1733
clincher1804
clencher1878
1737 London Mag. Jan. 14/1 This is a Clincher, i'faith; for if Twenty such Laws could be actually produced, no Man in his Senses would do it.
1775 D. Garrick Let. 27 Aug. (1832) II. 82 To introduce for a Clincher, and confirm the young man in his good resolutions.
1784 Belknap Papers (1877) I. 403 The last stroke was a clincher.
1804 Anecd. Bp. Watson, Let. Oct. (R.) If he is obliged to strike a last blow, it will be a clincher.
1826 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life (ed. 11) II. 313 In a conversational sparring-match..as you triumphantly prepare for a pinch of snuff, by way of clincher to a caustic hit.
1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker (1837) 1st ser. xxiv. 253 Have you ever seen this here book on the ‘Elder Controversy’..? This author's friends say it's a clincher.
1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West v. 102 This [argument] struck me as the nearest to a ‘clincher’ of all I had heard.
1965 Listener 26 Aug. 292/2 It would be a relief to tie up this discussion with the clincher that they started and led the riots.
1968 International Herald Tribune 3 Sept. 7/3 But the clincher was a stunning rise of 28 percent in the number of robberies.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > wit with words > [noun] > play on words, pun > making of > one who makes
punner1689
clincher1693
punster1699
1693 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis (new ed.) 340 A clincher Homo festivus, urbanus.
1708–15 J. Kersey Dict. Anglo-Britannicum Clincher, a witty or ingenious Person, that makes smart Repartees.
1721–1800 in N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict.
ΚΠ
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Clincher, a Bark, Boat, or small Ship, whose Planks are Larded over one an other.
1708 J. Kersey Dict. Anglo-Britannicum Clincher,..a small Ship, or Boat, whose Planks are laid one over another. [Hence in Bailey.]
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Clincar, a sort of flat-bottomed clinker-built pram.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
clincher-build n.
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 567/1 Clincher-build, clincher-plating, clincher-work, and, erroneously, clinker-work.
clincher-plating n.
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 567/1 Clincher-build, clincher-plating, clincher-work, and, erroneously, clinker-work.
C2.
clincher-built n. = clinker-built adj. at clinker n.3 Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > [adjective] > built with planks overlapping
shingled1362
clincheda1547
clincher-built1769
clinker-built1769
plank-over-plank1769
clencher-built1850
clinch-built1867
lapstreaked1883
1769 St. James' Chron. 10–11 Aug. 2/2 Pleasure Yacht, clincher-built..26 Tons.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 223 The principle has since been acted upon in clincher-built boats.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Clincher or Clinker Built, made of clincher-work, by the planks lapping one over the other. The contrary of carvel-work.
clincher-work n. (a) lap-jointed work, as in boats of a lighter construction, weather boarding, shingling; (b) a similar work in which iron plates are lapped and riveted.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > wooden structures or wooden parts of > lap-jointed work
clincher-work1769
clinch-work1784
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Clincher-work,..when the lower edge of every plank over-lays the next under it, like the slates on the top of a house.
1805 Mariner's Dict. Carvel Work, in contradistinction to clincher work.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Clincher-work, the disposition of the planks in the side of any boat or vessel, when the lower edge of every plank overlaps that next below it. This is sometimes written as pronounced, clinker-work.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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