clincher

clincher

The final thing that completes something, possibly in a negative way. I'd been having a wonderful birthday already, and being surprised by my whole family at dinner was the clincher. Getting caught in a downpour was the clincher on a terrible day.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

clincher

(ˈklɪntʃɚ)
n. the final element; the straw that broke the camel’s back. (see also capper.) The clincher was when the clerk turned up the volume.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • capper
  • along those lines
  • along similar lines
  • happy birthday
  • wearing
  • HBD
  • be in the thick of it
  • be in the thick of things
  • along these lines
  • damn the expense
References in periodicals archive
THE CLINCHER: Huge range of walking/cycling routes.
Britain guide to HOOF; SUNDAY PEOPLE * MARCH 29, 2015 email travel@people.co.ukTravel
The clincher: We can't exactly blame Priyanka for this one.
TABBIES 2010
Man United in April, the Carsley derby, the Rooney Arsenal game in 2002 and the fourth-place clincher against Newcastle last May.
Letter: New recruits needed to achieve European target
The clincher: a new company, TradeWind Technologies, had recently introduced an RFID reader-adaptor for handhelds.
RFID moves to academia with palm OS software: keeping tabs on endangered plants at University of Hawaii can aid medical research
Public opinion could be the clincher and requires much effort, as this reviewer repeatedly urges in print.
Defusing the debt threat: Bill Peters, one of the founders of the Jubilee 2000 campaign for debt remission, reviews a new book on the international debt crisis
Then they scored an emphatic clincher from just inside the box following a punched clearance by Town's goalkeeper.
Ladies beaten at Bradford
Here is the clincher: the stabilizer almost always contained LEAD, usually 5-10% by weight.
Abandoned cabling is a Pandora's Box
(Tokyo again placed smallest among the five in both of these categories.) Now comes the clincher: Are they content with their physiques?
Can't get no satisfaction. (Blowfish)
Do people want a small SUV?" (Little did I know they would--and then some.) Then came the clincher: "What would it look like?," he asked.
Prescience and the PT cruiser. (Dudder)
No real news there, but here's the clincher: the relationship between BMI and the risk of developing chronic diseases was evident even among those of us who were recently considered to be lean enough to avoid problems: those in the upper half of the previous healthy weight range.
Are you at a healthy weight?
And here's the real clincher: What about AIDS in Africa?
The return of my evil twin
The clincher is photographer Solve Sundsbo's regular presence here.
Vince Aletti
On a night when victory would have put the Scottish champions through to the money-spinning second phase, they were sunk by one-time Millwall striker Sergei Yuran's first-half goal and an injury-time clincher from Gilbert Prilasnig.
Hasta la vista for Rangers; Sturm Graz 2 Rangers 0
* The New Republic, May 1, cover: "Does the New New Left Have a Brain?" Here's the clincher: "Even if globalization were entirely destructive, the IMF and the World Bank would still represent bizarre targets for protest....
Refighting the Vietnam War
Bath failed to score a try, although Mike Catt clawed them back to 10-9 by the 63rd minute before Budge Pountney stole the clincher for Northampton.
Dawson tops it for Saints; Bath 9 Northampton 15