Library / English Dictionary

CLUTCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of grasping

Example:

she kept a firm hold on the railing

Synonyms:

clasp; clench; clutch; clutches; grasp; grip; hold

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("clutch" is a kind of...):

grasping; prehension; seizing; taking hold (the act of gripping something firmly with the hands (or the tentacles))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clutch"):

choke hold; chokehold (a restraining hold; someone loops the arm around the neck of another person in a tight grip, usually from behind)

embrace; embracement; embracing (the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection))

wrestling hold (a hold used in the sport of wrestling)

Derivation:

clutch (take hold of; grab)

clutch (hold firmly, usually with one's hands)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A coupling that connects or disconnects driving and driven parts of a driving mechanism

Example:

this year's model has an improved clutch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("clutch" is a kind of...):

coupler; coupling (a mechanical device that serves to connect the ends of adjacent objects)

Meronyms (parts of "clutch"):

clutch; clutch pedal (a pedal or lever that engages or disengages a rotating shaft and a driving mechanism)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clutch"):

freewheel (a clutch (as on the rear wheel of a bicycle) that allows wheels to turn freely (as in coasting))

friction clutch (a clutch in which one part turns the other by the friction between them)

Holonyms ("clutch" is a part of...):

transmission; transmission system (the gears that transmit power from an automobile engine via the driveshaft to the live axle)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A pedal or lever that engages or disengages a rotating shaft and a driving mechanism

Example:

he smoothely released the clutch with one foot and stepped on the gas with the other

Synonyms:

clutch; clutch pedal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("clutch" is a kind of...):

foot lever; foot pedal; pedal; treadle (a lever that is operated with the foot)

Holonyms ("clutch" is a part of...):

clutch (a coupling that connects or disconnects driving and driven parts of a driving mechanism)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A woman's strapless purse that is carried in the hand

Synonyms:

clutch; clutch bag

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("clutch" is a kind of...):

bag; handbag; pocketbook; purse (a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women))

Sense 5

Meaning:

A collection of things or persons to be handled together

Synonyms:

batch; clutch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("clutch" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clutch"):

schmear; schmeer; shmear ((Yiddish) a batch of things that go together)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A number of birds hatched at the same time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("clutch" is a kind of...):

brood (the young of an animal cared for at one time)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A tense critical situation

Example:

he is a good man in the clutch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("clutch" is a kind of...):

temporary state (a state that continues for a limited time)

Derivation:

clutch (affect)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Affect

Example:

He was seized with a dreadful disease

Synonyms:

clutch; get hold of; seize

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "clutch" is one way to...):

overcome; overpower; overtake; overwhelm; sweep over; whelm (overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

clutch (a tense critical situation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take hold of; grab

Example:

Birds of prey often seize small mammals

Synonyms:

clutch; prehend; seize

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "clutch" is one way to...):

get hold of; take (get into one's hands, take physically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "clutch"):

grapple; grip (to grip or seize, as in a wrestling match)

clench; clinch (hold in a tight grasp)

snap; snatch; snatch up (to grasp hastily or eagerly)

catch; grab; take hold of (take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of)

grab (take or grasp suddenly)

grip (hold fast or firmly)

clasp (grasp firmly)

collar (seize by the neck or collar)

capture; catch; get (succeed in catching or seizing, especially after a chase)

apprehend; arrest; collar; cop; nab; nail; pick up (take into custody)

claw (clutch as if in panic)

rack (seize together, as of parallel ropes of a tackle in order to prevent running through the block)

nab (seize suddenly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

clutch (the act of grasping)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Hold firmly, usually with one's hands

Example:

She clutched my arm when she got scared

Synonyms:

cling to; clutch; hold close; hold tight

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "clutch" is one way to...):

hold; take hold (have or hold in one's hands or grip)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "clutch"):

cuddle; draw close; nest; nestle; nuzzle; snuggle (move or arrange oneself in a comfortable and cozy position)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

clutch (the act of grasping)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The woman's arms went out and clutched the master around the neck—a hostile act!

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Mother cried out in a fright, and struggled up into a sitting posture, and clutched wildly at anything that would help her.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Thornton was sent spinning, and saved himself from falling only by clutching the rail of the bar.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"Oh, Mr. Bhaer, I am so glad to see you!" cried Jo, with a clutch, as if she feared the night would swallow him up before she could get him in.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I clutched at it as it disappeared in the swirl of the rapids, and part of its wing was left in my hand.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As he said this, he released me from his clutch, and only looked at me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress, hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it to his wife.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

With no hope of escaping the galaxy’s gravitational clutches, the plasma cools off, slows down, and eventually rains back down on the black hole, where the cycle begins anew.

(ALMA and MUSE Detect Galactic Fountain, ESO)

In acknowledgement of this question, addressed to him with extraordinary curtness, Mr. Heep, uncomfortably clutching the blue bag he carried, replied that he was pretty well, he thanked my aunt, and hoped she was the same.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

For I have already told the reader how much I was pestered by these odious animals, upon my first arrival; and I afterwards failed very narrowly, three or four times, of falling into their clutches, when I happened to stray at any distance without my hanger.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)