Library / English Dictionary

CLUTCHES

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of grasping

Example:

she kept a firm hold on the railing

Synonyms:

clasp; clench; clutch; clutches; grasp; grip; hold

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("clutches" is a kind of...):

grasping; prehension; seizing; taking hold (the act of gripping something firmly with the hands (or the tentacles))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clutches"):

choke hold; chokehold (a restraining hold; someone loops the arm around the neck of another person in a tight grip, usually from behind)

embrace; embracement; embracing (the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection))

wrestling hold (a hold used in the sport of wrestling)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Present simple (third person singular) of the verb clutch

Credits

 Context examples: 

This fellow is madly, insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a registry office?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)