† clunchfist Obs.
[f. clunch v. + fist.]
1. A clenched fist (also fig. a ‘knock-down’ argument).
| 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. 20 They haue..made their conclusions end with a Clunchfist, right like the old description of Logicke. 1662 Fuller Worthies i. 189 The Clunch⁓fist of Logick (good to knock a man down at a blow). |
2. A ‘close-fisted’ or niggardly person, a miser. (Also attrib.).
| 1606 Choice, Chance, etc. (1881) 68 What will this Clunch⁓fist leaue vpon his graue? 1737 Ozell Rabelais i. liv, Gold graspers, coin gripers..ye cluntch-fist dastards. |
So † clunch-fisted a., ‘close-fisted’, niggardly.
| 1644 Sir E. Dering Prop. Sacr. E iiij b, He was an Abraham clunchfisted. 1664 J. Wilson Cheats i. iii, They are..so Clunchfisted..'tis death to 'um to pluck 'um [their hands] out of their pockets. |