Clutches

How to spell clutches

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce clutches

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does clutches mean?

1. verbGrasps or holds something tightly, especially out of fear or urgency.
2. nounMore than one device that engages and disengages the engine from the transmission in a vehicle.
3. nounA controlling grasp or hold over someone or something.

Clutches in a sentence

• verb

  She clutches her handbag whenever the train gets crowded.

• noun

  The garage stocks replacement clutches for most older diesel vans.

• noun

  The firm finally fell into the clutches of its biggest creditor.

• verb

  The toddler clutches his mother's coat at the busy crossing.

• noun

  Worn clutches are a common fault on cars driven mostly in heavy traffic.

• noun

  She escaped the clutches of a long and draining contract.

Where does clutches come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The base word clutch goes back to the Middle English verb clucchen, a variant of clicchen, which itself descends from the Old English clyccan, meaning 'to bring together, to clench the fingers'. The root sense was always about the hand closing tightly on something, and that physical grip is still felt in the modern verb. From this idea of a tight hold came several later nouns: a 'clutch' of eggs is a set held or hatched together, and the mechanical clutch in a vehicle is so named because it grips and releases the rotating engine parts. The handbag sense, a small bag held in the hand, simply restates the original 'gripping' meaning. The word is solidly Germanic and native, which is why it has no exotic letters; the only spelling care needed is the plural, where a word ending in -ch takes -es rather than a bare -s.

How the word is built

• clutch (to grip; the mechanism that engages an engine)
• -es (plural noun / third-person verb suffix)