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To be frightened, and shrink back; to flinch; as, to funk at the edge of a precipice. [Colloq.] C. Kingsley. To funk out, to back out in a cowardly fashion. [Colloq.] To funk right out o' political strife. Lowell (Biglow Papers).

o secure and hold in place something else, as a long fiat-headed nail, a catch a hook, a clinch, a clamp, etc.; hence, a support. "His holdfast was gone." Bp. Montagu.

Laconian; characteristic of, or like, the Spartans; hence, stern or severe; cruel; unflinching. His head had now felt the razor, his back the rod; all that laconical discipline pleased him well. Bp. Hall.

ells similarly marked. -- To face the music, to meet any disagreeable necessity without flinching. [Colloq. or Slang]

A linchpin.

wn the point so that it shall spread out and form a second head; a pin or bolt headed or clinched at both ends. With busy hammers closing rivets up. Shak. Rivet joint, or Riveted joint, a joint between two or more pieces secured by rivets.

The act of joining with rivets; the act of spreading out and clinching the end, as of a rivet, by beating or pressing.

A copper washer upon which the end of a nail is clinched in boat building.

n occasional comment. (c) To add without enumeration or valuation, as something extra to clinch a bargain. -- To throw off. (a) To expel; to free one's self from; as, to throw off a disease. (b) To reject; to discard; to abandon; as, to throw off all sense of shame; to throw off a dependent. (c) To make a start in a h…

Same as Unclinch.

To shrink, as from a blow, or from pain; to flinch; to start back. I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word. Shak.