| 释义 |
▪ I. clutch, n.1|klʌtʃ|
Forms: α. 3–6 cloke, β. Sc. 4– cluke, (5 clucke, 5– cluik, 7–8 clook, 8– cleuk). γ. 3–6 cloche, 6–7 clooch. δ. 5–6 clowch(e, 6–7 clouche, cloutch, 7 clowtch. ε. 7– clutch.
[A word, or train of words, of difficult history. The earliest form exemplified is ME. clōke, Sc. clūke, of which the normal modern form would be clook. Of this, ME. clōche, 17th c. clooch (rime brooch), appears to be a palatalized southern form; but the conditions of the origin of this and clowtch, clouch (rime pouch), are obscure. Clutch, which since the 17th c. has superseded the other forms (exc. dial. cloke, clook, cluke), came in apparently from the verb clutch, q.v. It is to be noticed that with the obsolescence of the earlier forms, the original literal sense of ‘claw’ also disappeared, and the senses now in use are mainly those of a noun of action from the verb.
For ME. clōk(e, normally we should expect an OE. *clóc, clóce. But, as under brook v. we see a ME. brōke (beside brouk), from OE. brúcan, so here, ME. clōke (? beside *clouke) may represent an OE. *clúc or clúce. This would represent an OTeut. *klûka- or klûkôn-, a deriv. of the vb. root *kluk-, kleuk-, whence came *klukjan, OE. clycc(e)an, clitch, clutch. Thus clōke would be ultimately related to these verbs. As we cannot on any phonetic principles explain the palatalized forms clōche, clooch, cloutch, it seems probable that these were produced by the influence of the vb. clucche, clutch, upon the n. clōke, *clouk, and that the n. was thus brought gradually in form and sense into direct identification with the verb, as we see, under the verb, that the latter has also been brought in sense into closer association with the n.]
1. The claw of a beast or bird of prey, or of a fiend: mostly in pl. claws, talons, paws. Also contemptuously of a human hand: cf. paw.
(α) cloke. now dial.
a1225Ancr. R. 130 Uorte huden hire vrom his kene clokes. Ibid. 102, 174. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6936 Vermyn..In þam fest þair clokes full depe. a1400Morte Arth. 792 Syche buffetez he [the bear] hym rechez with hys brode klokes. c1460Towneley Myst. 324 (Mätz.) Fro dede you kleke in kloke. 1883Huddersf. Gloss., Cloke, the nail or claw of a cat.
(β) cluke, cluik, cleuk |klʏk, kløk|. Chiefly Sc.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Egipciane 1414 With þi clukis. c1450Henryson Mor. Fables 14 Syne by the cluke there craftelie [the mouse] can hing. 1500–20Dunbar Fenȝeit Freir 118 Had he reveild bene to the rwikis, Thay had him revin all with thair clwikis. 1513Douglas æneis ix. ix. 82 The egill..Within hys bowand clukis had vp clawcht A ȝong signet. 1530Lyndesay Test. Papyngo 1169 The gled the pece claucht in his cluke. 1641Witts Recreations, Epit. M. Mar-Prel. (1654) (N.) The devil has him fanged In his kruked klukes [rime bukes]. 1777Poems Buchan Dialect (1785) 12 (Jam.) Can well agree wi' his cair cleuck. 1868G. Macdonald R. Falconer I. 101, I never had sic a combination..atween my cleuks afore.
† (γ) cloches, clooches. Obs.
a1300Body & Soul 365 Map's Poems (Wright) 338 Thei haddin on hym leyd here scharpe cloches alle tho. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 154 He [cat] wil..Cracche vs, or clowe vs, and in his cloches holde. 1413Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle i. xxii. (1859) 28 Fro the cloches..of Sathanas. 1589Fleming Virgil's Georg. i. 2 Now scortching Scorpius draweth in his armes (or crooked clooches).
† (δ) clowch, clouch, clowtch. Obs.
c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture 503 (in Babees Bk.) Cast it not in youre clowche [rime-wd. sowche]. 1604T. Wright Pass. v. §4. 277 Who shall keepe lands or livings vnder the Clouches of such ravinous Kytes and devouryng Cormorants? 1607Topsell Serpents (1653) 769 Ox-flies and Brimsees..whatsoever they lay their clowtches on, that they hold fast.
(ε) clutch (rare).
1655Sir R. Fanshawe Camoens' Lusiad iii. 6 That Zone where Cancer bends his clutch.
2. a. The hand, or more commonly in pl. ‘hands in a sense of rapacity and cruelty’ (J.). In the expressions in, into, out of his clutches, the sense has since the 17th c. gradually passed from ‘claws, grasping hands’, to ‘grips, grasp, tight-hold’ as in 3. The singular, ‘in his clutch’, has even more completely passed from ‘claw’ to ‘grasp’.
α1526Skelton Magnyf. 1900 Who is yonder that grymly lokys? Fansy. Adewe, for I wyll not come in his clokys.
βa1693Sc. Presb. Eloq. (1738) 114 At last I got you out of his clooks.
γ1586J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 142/1 The earle hauing the gouernor..within his clooches. 1600W. Watson Quodlibets Relig. & State (1602) 32 If euer they get me within their clooches.
δ [c1430Hermes Bird xlviii. in Ashm. (1652) 233 In Chorles clowchys com y never more.] a1535More Wks. ii. (R.), I haue thee in my clouche [rime pouche]. 1563–83Foxe A. & M. 1703 Good Samuell..mekely yeelded himselfe into their clouches. 1587Lett. 28 Aug. in Harl. MS. 296. 46 If the flete of the Peru..fall in Dracke's clowches. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. x. 20 Too wise..to come into his clouch again. 1642J. Taylor God's Judgem. i. ii. i. 153 A cruell and ougly shaped divell, striving..to get into his clouches a yong man.
ε1602Shakes. Ham. v. i. 80 But Age..hath caught me in his clutch. 1641Milton Ch. Discip. ii. (1851) 67 From the greasie clutch of ignorance and high feeding. 1650― Lett. State (1851) 264 To get her again into his Clutches. 1656More Antid. Ath. i. viii. (1712) 23 Gigantick Spirits..who..might take the Plannets up in their prodigious Clutches. 1678Butler Hud. iii. ii. 1202 Before 't was in your clutches power. a1699Stillingfl. (J.), If I ever more come near the clutches of such a giant. a1704R. L'Estrange (J.), It was the fortune of a cock to fall into the clutches of a cat. 1709Steele Tatler No. 25 ⁋4 [He] escapes the Clutches of the Hangman. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xxxi. 50, I had got out of his clutches. 1818Cruise Digest III. 223 It was left to the clutches of the law. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 143 Wulf fell into William's clutches.
b. dial. (see quot.)
1877N.W. Lincolnsh. Gloss., Clutch, a handful: ‘a clutch of bread is all I want.’
3. Tight grip or grasp; the act of clutching. See in his clutch, from 16th c., in 2. Quot. 1661 may mean ‘hand’.
[c1661Characters (T.), For fear his dirty clutch should grease it.] 1784Cowper Task v. 317 And force the beggarly last doit.. from the clutch of Poverty. 1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. xvii, I can't hold on ten seconds more..my clutch is going now. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. V. xix. v. 509 Boscawen got clutch of the Toulon fleet. 1878Browning Poets Croisic 13 If any loosed her clutch.
4. a. An act of grasping at, a sudden and violent attempt to seize.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iii, It was all an expiring clutch at popularity. 1860Froude Hist. Eng. VI. 35 After one violent clutch at his beard. 1878Bayne Purit. Rev. iv. 133 To make a clutch at the military force in Scotland.
b. within clutch: = within reach of one's grasp.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iii. vii, When the golden fruit seemed within clutch.
†5. A clutch-fist, a miser. Obs.
1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Taylor's Motto Wks. ii. 54/1 A hard-hearted miserable Clutch.
6. a. Mech. A coupling for throwing the working parts into or out of action at will. spec. In motor vehicles, a piece of mechanism by which power from the engine is transmitted to or disconnected from the gears; also, the foot-pedal operating this mechanism. Also attrib. and Comb.
1814R. Buchanan Mill Work (1823) 413 Couplings which have no coupling boxes are denominated clutches or glands. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 360/1 Clutches are arranged to throw the working parts into and out of gear as required. 1882Mechan. World 4 Mar. 136/1 The circumstances under which clutches are employed are very various. 1899Motor-Car World Oct. 10/1 The advantage of transmission by gearing is its positiveness, while its disadvantages are noise, cost of renewal when worn, and the necessity of using clutches. 1902A. C. Harmsworth Motors & Motor-Driving x. 191 The forward end of the arbor shaft is connected to the engine shaft by a clutch. Ibid. 208 The motor and the main clutch shaft must be truly in line. 1904A. B. F. Young Complete Motorist ix. 216 The car will now travel forward so long as the clutch pedal is not depressed. 1912Motor Manual v. 162 To ensure a gradual ‘take up’ of the drive from the engine, the clutch should be let in very gently. 1934S. Beckett More Pricks than Kicks 127 Belacqua got in a gear at last..after much clutch-burning. 1936Economist 18 Jan. 150/1 The manufacture of brake and clutch linings. 1962Which? Car Suppl. Oct. 138/1 Two clutch cover bolts [were] missing. Ibid. 137/2 The VW 1500 was also in excellent condition..apart from clutch judder. Ibid. 116/1 An occasional slight trace of clutch slip.
b. A mechanical contrivance with two hooked arms for clipping or clutching the bodies to be lifted by a crane, etc.
1874Knight Dict. Mech. 579/1 A gripper..in the foundry-crane, whose clutches take hold of two gudgeons in the centers of the ends of the flask.
c. Naut. = crutch.
c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 113 Crutches or clutches, the crooked timbers fayed and bolted upon the foot-waling abaft, for the security of the heels of the half-timbers.
7. Comb. clutch-box (from sense 6), a box-shaped clutch in which one cylindrical piece of metal interlocks with a counterpart; clutch-fist, a miser; also a., miserly; clutch-fisted a.
1875Ure Dict. Arts III. 1176 Thrown in and out of gear by a *clutch-box and lever. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 397/2 (Cotton-Spinning) When the carriage has reached the extremity of the stretch, it comes in contact with a projection..which..disengages the clutch-boxes.
a1643W. Cartwright Ordinary ii. i, An old rich *clutch-fist knight.
1635Austin Medit. 289 Though we are Borne *Clutch-fisted, When we die We spread our Palmes, and let the World slip by. c1690Dict. Cant. Crew, Clutchfisted, the same as Close-fisted.
▸ = clutch bag n. at Additions.
1950Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 13 Sept. 27 (advt.) Best styles are the box, the clutch, the pouch, the shoulder bag, and the larger traveling handbag! 1980N.Y. Times 24 Aug. 49 (advt.) The consummate clutch, worked in rich fall tones. 2003L. Weisberger Devil wears Prada x. 173 There were..clutches, envelopes and messengers, each bearing an exclusive label and a price tag of more than the average American's monthly mortgage payment.
▸ clutch bag n. a small handbag without a strap or handle.
1947N.Y. Times 1 Nov. 12/2 The trend to the small bag was the most important story in handbags... One of the newest was Koret's ‘*Clutch Bag’, a small pouch to complement the wrapped silhouette. 1997B. O'Connor Tell her you love Her 60 Mr Parker..clutched my (new) red leather clutch bag and slammed the fly down dead on my desk.
▪ II. clutch, n.2
[A variant of cletch in same sense; app. in its origin a southern dialect form, being found in the Glossaries of Kent, Sussex, Hants, etc.]
1. A cletch; a brood of chickens, a ‘laying’ or ‘sitting’ of eggs.
1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 85 They can renew and make good their lost Clutch of Eggs. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. iii. ii. (1776) V. 57 These birds..lay generally from forty to fifty eggs at one clutch. 1825Waterton Wand. S. Amer. ii. i. 154 It must have been hatched in æolus's cave, amongst a clutch of squalls and tempests. 1874Coues Birds N.W. 302 The eggs..range from three to six in a clutch. 1875Parish Sussex Gloss., Clutch, a brood of chickens: a covey of partridges. 1885Daily News 14 July 2/1 In Ireland almost every peasant rears a clutch of geese.
2. transf. A group of people.
1908W. B. Yeats & Lady Gregory Unicorn from Stars ii. 73 That clutch of chattering women. 1945A. L. Rowse Poems of Decade 79 A clutch of leering women will be there. 1959Wall St. Jrnl. 9 Feb. 12/6 There are scenes somewhat resembling those of the Three-penny Opera with its clutch of tarts and cutpurses.
▪ III. clutch, v.1|klʌtʃ|
Forms: 4 cluchche, 4–5 clucche, cluche, 6– clutch. Also ? 4–5 cloche, 7 clouch. pa. pple. 4–5 cloughte, 6–7 cloucht, 7 clutch't, -ed.
[The ME. clucche(n was app. a phonetic variant of clicche, clitch: cf. much, crutch, such, rush, shut, all with u from original i or y. The earlier senses of clitch and clutch were identical, but in their development they diverged. An association arose between clutch and ME. n. cloke, whereby cloke was gradually assimilated in form to clutch, while both verb and substantive approached each other in sense: to clutch is now mainly ‘to grasp with clokes or claws’, a clutch is now mainly ‘a grasp or grip with claws’. The rare forms of the vb., cloche, clouche, were prob. from the n. Cf. clought.]
I. Obsolete senses.
†1. intr. To bend or crook as a joint; = clitch 2. Obs.
c1325Old Age in Rel. Ant. II. 211, I clyng, I cluche, I croke, I couwe. c1325E.E. Allit. P. B 1541 His cnes cachchez to close & cluchches his hommes. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B xvii. 188 The fyngres..powere hem failleth to clucche [v.r. cluche, clicche, cleuche, clyche] or to clawe, to clyppe or to holde.
2. trans. To incurve the fingers, close or clench the hand; = clitch 1. ? Obs.
1595Shakes. John ii. i. 589 Not that I haue the power to clutch my hand, When his faire Angels would salute my palme. 1614T. Adams Devil's Banquet 24 Their hands clutch't. 1627Drayton Agincourt ccxxiv, With their clutcht Gauntlets cuffing one another. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 76 The Blade is clasped..by the clutched inside of the middle and third Fingers. Ibid. 121 In their clutched left Hand.
†b. To interlock the fingers. Obs.
1609Holland Amm. Marcell. xxix. ii. 360 Fingers clutched crosse one within another [complicatis articulis]. 1644Bulwer Chirol. 29 With Hand in Hand and Fingers clutched one within another.
†3. intr. To stick, to cling together; = clitch 6. Obs.
c1425MS. Laud 656. f. 1 (Halliw.) So a canker unclene hit cloched togedres.
II. Current senses, connected with clutch n.
4. trans. To seize with claws or clutches; to seize convulsively or eagerly. Also with away, off, up: to snatch with clutches.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 172 A cat..he wol..To hus clees clawen [v.r. clochen] ows. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. ix, With all the fingers spread out as if to clutch it. 1832L. Hunt Poems 166 Then issues forth the bee to clutch the thyme. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. viii. Clutched off to a great blank barren Union House. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 198 The prince who so vigorously clutched the straw at the moment of his birth. 1875Helps Anim. & Mast. v. 133, I clutched up the cat.
b. absol.
1866Dickens Reprinted Pieces 156 Though he..scraped, and clutched, and lived miserably. 1879Proctor Pleas. Ways Sc. xiii. 327 Very young children..distinctly clutch with the toes.
5. To hold tightly in the bent or closed hand; to hold with a tight or determined grasp.
1602Marston Antonio's Revenge Prol., The earth is cloucht In the dull leaden hand of snoring sleepe. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. i. 34 Is this a Dagger, which I see before me? Come, let me clutch thee. 1649Milton Eikon. xviii. Wks. (1847) 319/1 The Sword he resolves to clutch as fast, as if God with his own hand had put it into his. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 216 Clutching the Shank of the Blade..in the right hand. 1883Gilmour Mongols xviii. 213 Clutched in such a paralysing grip.
b. fig.
1619Fletcher False One ii. iii, The sea..When with her hollow murmurs she invites me And clutches in her storms. a1726Collier On Thought (J.), A man may..clutch the whole globe in one intellectual grasp. 1836Emerson Nature, Beauty Wks. (Bohn) II. 147 The beauty that shimmers in the yellow afternoons of October, who ever could clutch it?
6. intr. To make a clutch at, to make an eager effort to seize.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. I. viii, How we clutch at shadows. 1860Froude Hist. Eng. VI. xxx. 32 He [Sussex] clutched at the canopy under which she was sitting, and tore it down. 1868E. Edwards Raleigh I. xxv. 639 As a drowning man clutches at the floating straws.
▪ IV. clutch, v.2
[f. clutch n.2]
trans. To hatch (chickens).
1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. iii. ii, Schemes..imagined to clutch all the eggs of a hen, and thus turn her produce to the greatest advantage. Ibid. iii. iv, The Hen seldom clutches a brood of Chickens above once a season. |