dial. [This may be merely the vb.-stem in combination; but the word may possibly be identical with ME. cleche, in the Ancren Riwle: see CLECHE.]
In comb. cleach-net, ‘a hand-net, similar to a shrimping-net, used in shallow, muddy waters, to catch ‘pinks’ [minnows], or other small fish.’ Miss Jackson, Shropsh. Word-bk. (1879). Cf. next.
