CLUTCH • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Clutch

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/klətʃ/ Listen

noun

Clutch n.

1.

A gripe or clinching with, or as with, the fingers or claws; seizure; grasp. "The clutch of poverty." "An expiring clutch at popularity." "But Age, with his stealing steps, Hath clawed me in his clutch."

2.

pl. The hands, claws, or talons, in the act of grasping firmly; often figuratively, for power, rapacity, or cruelty; as, to fall into the clutches of an adversary. "I must have... little care of myself, if I ever more come near the clutches of such a giant."

3.

(Mach.) A device which is used for coupling shafting, etc., so as to transmit motion, and which may be disengaged at pleasure.

4.

Any device for gripping an object, as at the end of a chain or tackle.

5.

(Zool.) The nest complement of eggs of a bird.

Bayonet clutch (Mach.), a clutch in which connection is made by means of bayonets attached to arms sliding on a feathered shaft. The bayonets slide through holes in a crosshead fastened on the shaft.

verb

Clutch v. t. (past & past part. clutched; pres. part. clutching)

1.

To seize, clasp, or grip with the hand, hands, or claws; often figuratively; as, to clutch power. "A man may set the poles together in his head, and clutch the whole globe at one intellectual grasp." "Is this a dagger which I see before me...? Come, let me clutch thee."

2.

To close tightly; to clinch. "Not that I have the power to clutch my hand."

Clutch v. i.

1.

To reach (at something) as if to grasp; to catch or snatch; often followed by at.

2.

To become too tense or frightened to perform properly; used sometimes with up; as, he clutched up on the exam.

See images of 'Clutch'

Etymology of 'Clutch'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Clutch" Quotes from Famous Books

... How now noble Pompey? What, at the wheels of Csar? Art thou led in triumph? What is there none of Pigmalions Images newly made woman to bee had now, for putting the hand in the pocket, and extracting clutch'd? What reply? Ha? What saist thou to this Tune, Matter, and Method? Is't not drown'd i'th last raine? Ha? What saist thou Trot? Is the world as it was Man? Which is the way? Is it sad, and few words? Or how? ...

— The First Folio [35 Plays] • William Shakespeare

... tent; a wailing, broken-hearted pleading in the harmonious Spanish tongue, and then two figures tumbled out into the light of the lanterns. One was the old woman; the other was a man clothed with a sumptuous and flashing splendour. The woman seemed to clutch and beseech from him something against his will. The man broke from her and struck her brutally back into the tent, where she lay, whimpering and invisible. Observing Tansey, he walked rapidly to the table where he sat. Tansey recognized him to be Ramon Torres, a Mexican, the ...

— Roads of Destiny • O. Henry

... beneath a careless touch; Endurance hardens with a word; She holds a trifle with a clutch So strangely, childishly absurd, That he who ...

— The Mistress of the Manse • J. G. Holland

... terrible; her piercing black eyes had the glare of the tiger's; her face was like that we ascribe to a pythoness; she set her teeth to keep them from chattering, and her whole frame quivered convulsively. She had pushed her clenched fingers under her cap to clutch her hair and support her head, which felt too heavy; she was on fire. The smoke of the flame that scorched her seemed to emanate from her wrinkles as from the crevasses rent by a volcanic eruption. It ...

— Cousin Betty • Honore de Balzac

... the hundred men in the troop carried a rifle balanced across his saddle pommel; each was dressed in the garb of the range-rider; and the face of each, glimpsed by the light from some window or doorway, was grimly stern. The sight was one calculated to make Fear clutch like an ice-cold hand at the hearts of those with guilty consciences; a spectacle which induced such respectable men as saw it to arm themselves and fall in behind the advancing line. These knew without being ...

— Hidden Gold • Wilder Anthony

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