clench vs lay hold of

clench

verb

To grip or hold fast.
To close tightly.

noun

A tight grip.
A local chapter of the Church of the SubGenius parody religion.
A seal that is applied to formed thin-wall bushings.

lay hold of

verb

To seize; catch; apprehend.
To obtain.

How often have the words clench and lay hold of occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )