CLUTCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does clutch mean? 

• CLUTCH (noun)
  The noun CLUTCH has 7 senses:

1. the act of grasping

2. a tense critical situation

3. a number of birds hatched at the same time

4. a collection of things or persons to be handled together

5. a woman's strapless purse that is carried in the hand

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

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

  Familiarity information: CLUTCH used as a noun is common.

• CLUTCH (verb)
  The verb CLUTCH has 3 senses:

1. take hold of; grab

2. hold firmly, usually with one's hands

3. affect

  Familiarity information: CLUTCH used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLUTCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of grasping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

she kept a firm hold on the railing

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"):

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)

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

Derivation:

clutch (take hold of; grab)

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

A tense critical situation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

he is a good man in the clutch

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

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

Derivation:

clutch (affect)

Sense 3

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 4

Meaning:

A collection of things or persons to be handled together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

batch; clutch

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 5

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

clutch; clutch bag

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 6

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

clutch; clutch pedal

Context example:

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

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 7

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

this year's model has an improved clutch

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)

• CLUTCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they clutch    ... he / she / it clutches   
Past simple: clutched   
Past participle: clutched   
-ing form: clutching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Take hold of; grab

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

clutch; prehend; seize

Context example:

Birds of prey often seize small mammals

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"):

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

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)

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 2

Meaning:

Hold firmly, usually with one's hands

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

cling to; clutch; hold close; hold tight

Context example:

She clutched my arm when she got scared

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)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Affect

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

clutch; get hold of; seize

Context example:

He was seized with a dreadful disease

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)

 Context examples 

With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I clutched Holmes’s arm, and pointed upward.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then, clutching it in his hand, he vanished through a doorway.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But he gripped his life with a miser's clutch and would not let it go.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

As my fingers released hers, she clutched for my arm hastily.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He was still in the clutch of the past.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Amazed and dizzy, the defenders, clutching at the cracking parapets for support, saw great stones, burning beams of wood, and mangled bodies hurtling past them through the air.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His papers were found burned in the grate, his wristband was clutched in the dead man’s hand, and his knife lay beside the body.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Stranger still was that nearly all the octopuses seemed to be mothers, each guarding a clutch of eggs.

(Giant group of octopus moms discovered in the deep sea, National Science Foundation)

If our ex-missionary friends escape the clutches of Lestrade, I shall expect to hear of some brilliant incidents in their future career.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)