clutch
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to hold something very tightly, often because you are nervous, in pain, or afraid.
v.to grasp or seize something tightly and eagerly, often as a result of fear, anxiety, or physical distress.
Simple“She clutched her bag tightly as she walked through the crowded station.”
In context“The survivor clutched the railing with white-knuckled intensity, refusing to let go until the rescue team reached the platform.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the pedal or part in a car that you use when changing gears.
n.a mechanism for connecting and disconnecting a vehicle's engine from its transmission system.
Simple“You need to press the clutch down fully before you change gears.”
In context“The driver felt the clutch slipping during the steep ascent, suggesting that the friction plates were severely worn.”
UsageIn British English, it usually refers to the pedal; in technical contexts, it refers to the internal plates.
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a small, flat handbag without handles, usually carried at formal events.
n.a slim, strapless handbag designed to be held in the hand or under the arm.
Simple“She chose a silver clutch to match her evening dress for the wedding.”
In context“The celebrity posed on the red carpet, holding a designer clutch that contained only her phone and a lipstick.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
n.a small group of people or things.
n.a collective noun for a group of things or people, or a hatch of eggs.
Simple“A clutch of reporters waited outside the courthouse for the verdict.”
In context“The hen sat patiently on her clutch of eggs, ignoring the noise from the nearby farm machinery.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
n.the power or control that someone has over you, usually in a bad way.
n.the grasp or control of someone, typically perceived as predatory, cruel, or inescapable.
Simple“The hero managed to escape from the villain's clutches just in time.”
In context“The small nation struggled to free its economy from the clutches of the international banking conglomerate.”
UsageUsually used in the plural form 'clutches'.
- 06 C1 Advanced
adj.describing a person or action that succeeds in a very difficult, high-pressure moment.
adj.denoting a person or performance that is successful in a critical or high-stakes situation.
Simple“He made a clutch shot in the final seconds to win the game.”
In context“The quarterback's clutch performance in the fourth quarter secured the team's place in the playoffs despite the mounting pressure.”
“He remembers the soundless way his mother cried; how his father clutched at her coffin.”
“S ome clutch their phones, or sit by a computer.”
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”).
Variant form of cletch, from Middle English cleken (“to hatch”), perhaps from Old Norse klekja (“to hatch”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.