cling
1 Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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to adhere closely; stick to.
The wet paper clings to the glass.
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to hold tight, as by grasping or embracing; cleave.
The children clung to each other in the dark.
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to be or remain close.
The child clung to her mother's side.
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to remain attached, as to an idea, hope, memory, etc..
Despite the predictions, the candidate clung to the belief that he would be elected.
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to cohere.
noun
verb
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(often foll by to) to hold fast or adhere closely (to something), as by gripping or sticking
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(foll by together) to remain in contact (with each other)
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to be or remain physically or emotionally close
to cling to outmoded beliefs
noun
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agriculture the tendency of cotton fibres in a sample to stick to each other
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obsolete agriculture diarrhoea or scouring in animals
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short for clingstone
Other Word Forms
- clinger noun
- clinginess noun
- clinging adjective
- clingingly adverb
- clingingness noun
- clingy adjective
- unclinging adjective
Etymology
Origin of cling1
1835–45; by shortening from clingstone, or special use of cling 1 (noun)
Origin of cling1
First recorded before 900; Middle English clingen, Old English clingan “to stick together, shrink, wither”; akin to clench
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“If we embrace narrow group-based identities too fiercely, we cling to the very cages in which others would seek to trap us. We pigeonhole ourselves.”
She reached the wall and clambered up it, the stones cutting into her hands and Gelifen clinging to her back.
From Literature
But she’s clinging to Denny and shielding her eyes from the monkeys.
From Literature
After sliding to its lowest level since 2022, the greenback lately has been clinging to a critical support level dating back to 2008.
From MarketWatch
“Our strategy until now has been cling to the audience that remains on broadcast television,” she said.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
