# clinching vs clinging

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### clinching
*adjective · frequency rank #37,856*
That settles something (such as an argument) definitely and conclusively.

### clinging
*verb · IPA /ˈklɪŋɪŋ/ · frequency rank #18,040*
present participle and gerund of cling

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clinching-vs-clinging