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Clutch

 - 8 dictionary results
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clutch

1  [kluhch]
Use Clutch in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to seize with or as with the hands or claws; snatch: The bird swooped down and clutched its prey with its claws.
2. to grip or hold tightly or firmly: She clutched the child's hand as they crossed the street.
3. Slang. to spellbind; grip a person's emotions, attention, or interest: Garbo movies really clutch me.
–verb (used without object)
4. to try to seize or grasp (usually fol. by at): He clutched at the fleeing child. She clutched at the opportunity.
5. Slang. to become tense with fright; panic (sometimes fol. by up): I clutched up on the math exam.
6. to operate the clutch in a vehicle.
–noun
7. the hand, claw, etc., when grasping.
8. Usually, clutches. power of disposal or control; mastery: She fell into the clutches of the enemy.
9. the act of clutching; a snatch or grasp.
10. a tight grip or hold.
11. a device for gripping something.
12. Automotive, Machinery.
a. a mechanism for readily engaging or disengaging a shaft with or from another shaft or rotating part. Compare coupling (def. 2a).
b. a control, as a pedal, for operating this mechanism.
13. Sports. an extremely important or crucial moment of a game: He was famous for his coolness in pitching in the clutch.
14. any critical position or situation; emergency: She kept complete control in the clutch.
15. Also called clutch bag, clutch purse. a woman's small purse that can be carried in the hand and usually has no handle or strap.
–adjective
16. done or accomplished in a critical situation: a clutch shot that won the basketball game.
17. dependable in crucial situations: a clutch player.
18. (of a coat) without fasteners; held closed in front by one's hand or arm.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME clucchen, var. of clicchen, OE clyccan to clench

Related forms:
clutch⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
clutchy, adjective

Synonyms:
1. See catch. 2. clench, squeeze, hug.
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clutch

2  [kluhch]
–noun
1. a hatch of eggs; the number of eggs produced or incubated at one time.
2. a brood of chickens.
3. a number of similar individuals: a clutch of books; a whole clutch of dancers.
–verb (used with object)
4. to hatch (chickens).
Origin:
1715–25; var. of cletch (now dial.); akin to Scots cleck to hatch < ON klekja to hatch
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Clutch
clutch 1   (klŭch)   
v.   clutched, clutch·ing, clutch·es

v.   tr.

  1. To grasp and hold tightly.

  2. To seize; snatch.

v.   intr.

  1. To attempt to grasp or seize: clutch at a life raft.

  2. To engage or disengage a motor vehicle's clutch.

n.  

  1. A hand, claw, talon, or paw in the act of grasping.

  2. A tight grasp.

  3. Control or power. Often used in the plural: caught in the clutches of sin.

  4. A device for gripping and holding.

    1. Any of various devices for engaging and disengaging two working parts of a shaft or of a shaft and a driving mechanism.

    2. The apparatus, such as a lever or pedal, that activates one of these devices.

  6. A tense, critical situation: came through in the clutch.

  7. A clutch bag.

adj.   Informal

  1. Being or occurring in a tense or critical situation: won the championship by sinking a clutch putt.

  2. Tending to be successful in tense or critical situations: The coach relied on her clutch pitcher.


[Middle English clucchen, from Old English clyccan.]
clutch 2   (klŭch)   
n.  

  1. The complete set of eggs produced or incubated at one time.

  2. A brood of chickens.

  3. A group; a bunch.

tr.v.   clutched, clutch·ing, clutch·es
To hatch (chicks).

[Variant of dialectal cletch; akin to Middle English clekken, to hatch, from Old Norse klekja.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
clutch (up)

  1. in.
    to become very tense and anxious; to freeze with anxiety. : I have been known to clutch up before a race.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

clutch  (v.)
O.E. clyccan "bring together, bend (the fingers), clench," infl. in meaning by M.E. cloke "a claw." Automotive engine part (n.) is 1814, with the "seizing" sense extended to "coupling for bringing working parts together." Originally of mill-works, first used of motor vehicles 1899.

clutch  (n.)
of chickens, eggs, 1721, from clekken "to hatch," probably from a Scand. source (cf. O.N. klekja "to hatch").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

clutch

see grasp (clutch) at straws.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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