I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a clutch bag (= a small woman's bag that you hold in one hand )
▪
For the evening all you need is a little clutch bag.
clutch bag
escape sb’s clutches (= escape and not be caught be someone )
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He managed to escape the men’s clutches and run off.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
tightly
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Fong stood in the doorway, his invitation clutched tightly in his hand.
■ NOUN
arm
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I clutch at his arm , and he holds me, and does not let me go when I am upright.
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Richard was having a panic attack on Fifth Avenue, clutching a lamppost with arms that bulged like tin drums.
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Constance was clutching her arm , and they were almost at the church.
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Dove rose beside him with the sobbing boy clutched in his arms .
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Wynne-Jones reached out and clutched Tallis's arm .
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I had to clutch my arms to my chest to stop myself from opening the door.
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Helen clutched Edward's arm as they dodged through the traffic.
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I only saved myself from falling by clutching at the arm of the oak settle.
bag
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After all she is clutching her bag like a student would her books.
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She clutched her shopping bag and her handbag.
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If I actually met Mr Diamond, I would picture him clutching the bag and its contents to his chest.
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Polly clutched her bag and cardigan, her mind teeming with questions she was afraid to ask.
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The fortunate ones clutch tiny plastic bags of black sand, a pound of which counts as a windfall.
hand
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Her hands clutched the air and each other, groped for some one who was not there.
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Once he passed by close to tears, one hand clutching his cape and the other his paper bag.
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She reached for his hand , clutched it and dug in her long nails.
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Under my right arm and in my right hand I clutch two more.
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The nails on the hand clutching the pen were bitten down to the quick - always a sign of savagery.
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The cold hand of dread clutched Larsen's guts.
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His left hand clutches his belly, for really bad news does feel just like a kick in the belly at first.
straw
▪
Burrows, now clutching at straws , looked into it and became more and more interested in the actor.
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Green ponds should not be a problem now, but come next summer, you may be clutching at straws .
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In this context of impending war, Nizan began clutching at straws .
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But if that was what Adams wanted, well, he was willing to clutch at any straw .
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And as they get ready for the Big One, the title decider, the lads will clutch at every available straw .
throat
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Her father was choking for breath, clutching his throat as he fought for air.
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And sure enough, there was Thomas in the reading corner, soundlessly turning blue and clutching at his throat .
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Pooley clutched at his throat and gagged violently.
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He clutched his throat , gagging on the bone embedded in his gullet.
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She dropped to her knees, clutching at her throat , but the wire was probably in too deep already.
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Despite two coronary bypasses, he's now strangled with anoxic pain, face grey, clutching his throat .
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Constance jerked up in bed clutching her throat in terror.
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My difficulty in breathing was such that I clutched my throat .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be clutching/grasping at straws
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Green ponds should not be a problem now, but come next summer, you may be clutching at straws .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Joanne clutched her mother's hand.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A patient found him screaming and clutching the bottle.
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Fong stood in the doorway, his invitation clutched tightly in his hand.
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I had seen them in Kano clutching their swords as they slept in shop doorways where they were employed as night-watchmen.
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She stumbled to her feet, clutching the eiderdown around her, and opened her mouth to call to them.
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That way, you can see if you clutch the lectern or keep your hands too stiffly at your side.
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There was a loud report somewhere outside the house and Lee clutched her pillow.
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We only clutch our rifles more firmly and brace ourselves to receive the shock....
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Yet they come out of there clutching this little key he give them.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
escape
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Thank heavens she'd escaped his clutches in time.
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It gave her a marvellous feeling of having escaped the cold clutches of the north and all her unhappiness there.
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That was how she says she escaped the clutches of Massu, Bigeard and Graziani.
fall
▪
Better that she should suffer his anger and displeasure than that he should fall into the clutches of the lord of Parfois.
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Fortunately, she had never fallen into our clutches .
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It must never fall into the clutches of a political party again.
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That decision led her to fall straight into the clutches of a gang of teenagers.
let
▪
He let go the clutch , lifted the front wheel and drove at the far bank, sand-spit dead ahead.
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She wiped her eyes and let the clutch in.
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The man let out the clutch and the car moved off.
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He let in the clutch lever and we moved forward.
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Coventry let in the clutch and they drove off.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
fall into the hands/clutches of sb
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Somehow, the plans fell into the hands of an enemy spy.
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And for all that, I have fallen into the hands of the Robemaker, he thought angrily.
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It must never fall into the clutches of a political party again.
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The power to play or not fell into the hands of program director Crocker and his peers around the country.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A female caged with an impotent male produced clutches at roughly one month intervals.
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At last her clutch on him became less desperate and her shivers less violent.
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Rarely can such a clutch of famous names have faced the stark and unfamiliar spectre of failure on one afternoon.
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Some have more efficient clutches, some have better bale-arm mechanisms; better finishes or smoother gears.
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Soon there would be the little clutch of spectators, the curious children shooed away by the adults, the Press photographers.
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Such noises made Wyatt wonder if Cyril bothered to use the clutch at all or had resolved somehow to do without it.
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The heavy clutch and cumbersome gear change remain the worst feature.