CLUTCH


Meaning of CLUTCH in English

I. ˈkləch verb

Etymology: Middle English clucchen, from Old English clyccan

Date: before 12th century

transitive verb

1. : to grasp or hold with or as if with the hand or claws usually strongly, tightly, or suddenly

2. obsolete : clench

intransitive verb

1. : to seek to grasp and hold

clutch ed at her hand

2. : to operate an automobile clutch

Synonyms: see take

II. noun

Date: 13th century

1.

a. : the claws or a hand in the act of grasping or seizing firmly

b. : an often cruel or unrelenting control, power, or possession

the fell clutch of circumstance — W. E. Henley

c. : the act of grasping, holding, or restraining

2.

a. : a coupling used to connect and disconnect a driving and a driven part (as an engine and a transmission) of a mechanism

b. : a lever (as a pedal) operating such a clutch

3. : a tight or critical situation : pinch

come through in the clutch

4. : clutch bag

III. adjective

Date: 1944

1. : made or done in a crucial situation

a clutch hit

2. : successful in a crucial situation

a clutch pitcher

IV. noun

Etymology: alteration of dialect English cletch hatching, brood

Date: 1721

1. : a nest of eggs or a brood of chicks

2. : group , bunch

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.