clutch1
v.
grasp tightly.
▸
(
clutch at)
seize eagerly or in desperation:
he clutched at the idea.
n.
- a tight grasp.
-
(clutches)
power or control:
she was about to fall into his clutches.
- a mechanism for connecting and disconnecting the engine and the transmission system in a vehicle, or the working parts of any machine.
- N. Amer. a clutch bag.
Etymology
ME (in the sense ‘bend, crook’): var. of obs. clitch ‘close the hand’, from OE clyccan ‘crook, clench’, of Gmc origin.
clutch2
n.
- a group of eggs fertilized at the same time, laid in a single session and (in birds) incubated together.
▸a brood of chicks.
- a small group of people or things.
Etymology
C18: prob. a southern var. of north. Engl. dial. cletch, rel. to ME cleck ‘to hatch’, from ON klekja.