| 释义 |
clutch
I. \ˈkləch\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-es)
Etymology: Middle English clucchen, from Old English clyccan; akin to Old Frisian kletsie spear, Swedish klyka fork, crotch, Middle High German klok spot, Old Norse klakkr lump, Middle Irish glacc hand — more at cling
transitive verb
1.
a. : to seize, grip, or hold with the hand or claws usually strongly, tightly, or suddenly
< sleeps … with his musket … clutched tightly — S.V.Benét >
< clutched his arm fiercely >
b. : to hold or try to retain control or possession of : seize
< clutch power >
2. obsolete : to close tightly : clench
< clutching hands >
intransitive verb
1. : to seek to hold or retain possession
< clutched at her son's devotion — Andrea Parke >
: take immediate advantage or make immediate use (as of an idea or an opportunity) — often used with at
< clutch at remedies that her calmer self would have put by — H.O.Taylor >
2. : grasp, hold
< roots that clutch deeply into the earth >
3. : to operate a clutch (sense 3)
Synonyms: see take
II. adjective
1. of a woman's coat : lacking fasteners and suitable for holding closed with the hand or arm
2. of a woman's handbag : lacking handles and of a size and shape suitable for clasping in the hand
III. noun
(-es)
Etymology: Middle English cloche, clowche, alteration (influenced by Middle English clucchen to clutch) of cloke, cluke; akin to Old English clyccan to clutch
1.
a. : the claws or a hand in the act of grasping or seizing firmly
< a rabbit in the clutch of a hawk >
b. : control, power, or possession especially of a rapacious or cruel person or an unrelenting force
< in the dry, womanless clutch of the army — Irwin Shaw >
< the fell clutch of circumstance — W.E.Henley >
— often used in plural
< in the clutches of a desperate infatuation — Delmore Schwartz >
c. : the act of grasping, holding, or restraining : grasp, grip
< the gravitational clutch of the earth — New York Times >
2. : a device for gripping an object, as at the end of a chain or tackle
3.
a. : a coupling used to connect and disconnect a driving and a driven part of a mechanism especially one that permits the former part to engage the latter gradually and without shock — see band clutch, centrifugal clutch, cone clutch, disk clutch, friction clutch, magnetic clutch, magnetic fluid clutch
b. : a lever operating such a clutch
4. : a tight or critical situation (as when the outcome of a game is at stake) : pinch
< a batter able to come through with a hit in the clutch >
< a good clutch hitter >
IV. noun
(-es)
Etymology: alteration of cletch
1.
a. : a nest of eggs or a brood of chicks
b. : a group of offspring produced at a birth
2. : the eggs laid by a bird at regular consecutive intervals without intervening longer pauses
3. : group, bunch
< a whole clutch of people trooped in together — Mollie Panter-Downes >
V. intransitive verb
: to perform poorly or fail in a critical situation
< clutched on the final exam >
VI. noun
: clutch bag herein |