clutch

Word family

clutch1 /klʌtʃ/ verb

1 [transitiveT]HOLD to hold something tightly because you do not want to lose it 緊握，緊抓 SYN grip, grasp

She was clutching a bottle of champagne.

她手裏緊緊抓着一瓶香槟酒。

► see thesaurus at hold →4 See picture of 見圖 HOLD

2 [intransitiveI, transitiveT] (also clutch at somebody/something)

a) to suddenly take hold of someone or something because you are frightened, in pain, or in danger 〔因害怕、疼痛或遇險而〕突然抓住，猛地抓住 SYN grab

He clutched at a pillar for support.

他猛地抓住一根柱子作支撐。

Tom fell to the ground clutching his stomach.

湯姆捂着肚子倒在地上。

b) clutch at somebody’s heart if something clutches at your heart, you suddenly feel fear or nervousness 某人突然感到一陣恐懼[不安]

3 be clutching at straws especially British EnglishBrE to be trying everything possible to find a solution or hope in a difficult situation, even though it will probably be unsuccessful 抓救命稻草，急不暇擇

I knew that trying the alternative medicine was just clutching at straws.

我很清楚嘗試非傳統療法只不過是在抓救命稻草。

Examples from the Corpus

be clutching at straws• Green ponds should not be a problem now, but come next summer, you may be clutching at straws.

Examples from the Corpus

clutch• Joanne clutched her mother's hand.• There was a loud report somewhere outside the house and Lee clutched her pillow.• We only clutch our rifles more firmly and brace ourselves to receive the shock...• A patient found him screaming and clutching the bottle.• She stumbled to her feet, clutching the eiderdown around her, and opened her mouth to call to them.• That way, you can see if you clutch the lectern or keep your hands too stiffly at your side.• I had seen them in Kano clutching their swords as they slept in shop doorways where they were employed as night-watchmen.• Yet they come out of there clutching this little key he give them.• Fong stood in the doorway, his invitation clutched tightly in his hand.

clutch2 noun

1. [countableC] the pedal that you press with your foot when driving a vehicle in order to change gear, or the part of the vehicle that this controls 〔車輛的〕離合器（踏板） →5 see picture at 見圖 car

2 somebody’s clutches POWER[plural] the power, influence, or control that someone has 某人的掌控[影響，統治]

a small boy trying to escape from his mother’s clutches

一個想逃離母親管束的小男孩

in somebody’s clutches

She’ll have him in her clutches soon enough.

不久她就會把他抓在手心裏。

Examples from the Corpus

somebody’s clutches• Sam joined the Navy to escape from his mother's clutches.

3 clutch of something GROUP OF THINGSa small group of similar things 一小群[簇]類似之物

a clutch of eggs (=the number of eggs laid by a bird at one time)

一窩蛋

a clutch of young mothers

一小群年輕媽媽

4 [singular]HOLD a tight hold that someone has on something 緊握，緊抓 SYN grip, grasp

I shook myself free of her clutch.

我從她的緊抱中掙脫出來。

Examples from the Corpus

clutch• Rarely can such a clutch of famous names have faced the stark and unfamiliar spectre of failure on one afternoon.• Some have more efficient clutches, some have better bale-arm mechanisms; better finishes or smoother gears.• The heavy clutch and cumbersome gear change remain the worst feature.• At last her clutch on him became less desperate and her shivers less violent.• Soon there would be the little clutch of spectators, the curious children shooed away by the adults, the Press photographers.• A female caged with an impotent male produced clutches at roughly one month intervals.• Such noises made Wyatt wonder if Cyril bothered to use the clutch at all or had resolved somehow to do without it.

Origin clutch1

Old English clyccan

clutch2

1. (1600-1700) → CLUTCH1