clutch
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /klʌt͡ʃ/
rhymes: -ʌtʃ
Forms: form: clutches
form: cletch
form: clitch
form: cleach
form: cleak
form: cleek
form: cleik
form: click
form: clouch
Etymology: From Middle English clucchen, clicchen, cluchen, clechen, cleken, from Old English clyċċan (“to clutch, clench”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkjan, from Proto-Germanic *klukjaną, from Proto-Germanic *klu- (“to ball up, conglomerate, amass”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up; lump, mass”).
Cognate with Swedish klyka (“clamp, fork, branch”). The noun is from Middle English cleche, cloche, cloke ("claw, talon, hand"; compare Scots cleuk, cluke, cluik (“claw, talon”)), of uncertain origin, with the form probably assimilated to the verb.
Alternative etymology derives Old English clyċċan from Proto-Germanic *klēk- (“claw, hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *glēk-, *ǵlēḱ- (“claw, hand; to clutch, snatch”). If so, then cognate with Irish glac (“hand”).
Senses: glosses: The claw of a predatory animal or bird.
examples: text: I muſt have great leiſure, and little care of my ſelf, if I ever more come near the Clutches of ſuch a Giant, who ſeems to write with a Beetle inſtead of a Pen; […]
ref: 1676, Ed[ward] Stillingfleet, “An Answer to T[homas] G[odden]’s Charge of Contradictions, Paradoxes, Reproach of the Second Council of Nice, School Disputes; and to His Parallel Instances”, in A Discourse Concerning the Idolatry Practised in the Church of Rome, […], London: […] Robert White for Henry Mortlock […], →OCLC, part II (Being a Particular Defence of the Charge of Idolatry against the Church of Rome in the Worship of Images), page 786:
text: Should when he pleaſes, and on whom he will / Wage war, with any or with no pretence / Of provocation, giv'n or wrong ſuſtained, / And force the beggarly laſt doit, by means / That his own humour dictates, from the clutch / Of poverty, that thus he may procure / His thouſands weary of penurious life / A ſplendid opportunity to die?
ref: 1785, William Cowper, “Book V. The Winter Morning Walk.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 197:
text: The more cunning heads thought it was all an expiring clutch at popularity, on the part of a Minister, whom domestic embarrassments, court intrigues, old age, and dropsy soon afterward finally drove from the helm.
ref: 1831, Thomas Carlyle, chapter III, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 12:
text: You scold yourself; you know it is only your nerves—and yet, and yet … In a little while, it is impossible to resist the terror that seizes you, and you are helpless in the clutch of an unseen horror.
ref: 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LVII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC, page 303:
glosses: A grip, especially one seen as rapacious or evil.
glosses: A device to interrupt power transmission, commonly used to separate the engine and gearbox in a car.
glosses: The pedal in a car that disengages power and torque transmission from the engine (through the drivetrain) to the drive wheels.
glosses: Any device for gripping an object, as at the end of a chain or tackle.
glosses: A fastener that attaches to the back of a tack pin to secure an accessory to clothing. (See Clutch (pin fastener).)
examples: text: The clutch which I had made to save myself in falling had torn away from this chin-band and let the lower jaw drop on the breast, but little else was disturbed, and there was Colonel John Mohune resting as he had been laid out a century ago.
ref: [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
synonyms: clutch bag
glosses: A small handbag or purse with no straps or handle.
examples: text: to come in clutch
text: And when it came to the clutch, Johnny Mize, who was washed up five years ago, would crack out a pinch double, or Mickey Mantle, who is not yet ready for the big leagues, would slam out a home run.
ref: 1951 October 8, “Baseball: A Great Year”, in LIFE, page 48:
text: He is the player who has come through so often in the clutch during his days at Camarillo.
ref: 1985 June 1, Johannes Telesaar, “Camarillo Loses in the 4-A Final by a Foot at First”, in Los Angeles Times:
text: Stempel came through in the clutch again. GM's across-the-board launch of the catalytic converter was a coup that left Ford and Chrysler gaspind in the dust.
ref: 2013 May 14, Paul Ingrassia, Joseph B. White, Comeback: The Fall & Rise of the American Automobile Industry, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
text: But not just strong women: women who don’t turn to a man in the clutch; women whose strength is inseparable from the walls they’ve built around themselves.
ref: 2016 May 1, Frank Bruni, “Jodie Foster Is Still Afraid of Failure”, in The New York Times:
glosses: An important or critical situation.
glosses: A difficult maneuver.
Derived terms: camel clutch
clutch artist
clutch bag
clutch disc
clutchless
clutch pedal
clutch pencil
clutchplate
clutch plate
declutch
dual-clutch gearbox
multiclutch
ride the clutch
twin-clutch gearbox