clung
[kluhng]
- simple past tense and past participle of cling1.
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cling1
[kling]
- to adhere closely; stick to: The wet paper clings to the glass.
- to hold tight, as by grasping or embracing; cleave: The children clung to each other in the dark.
- to be or remain close: The child clung to her mother's side.
- to remain attached, as to an idea, hope, memory, etc.: Despite the predictions, the candidate clung to the belief that he would be elected.
- to cohere.
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- the act of clinging; adherence; attachment.
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Origin of cling1
before 900; Middle English clingen, Old English clingan to stick together, shrink, wither; akin to clench
Synonyms
See more synonyms for cling on Thesaurus.com2. clutch, grab, hug.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for clung
Contemporary Examples
Sierra had clung to life for seven weeks before finally succumbing to her wound.
But Kate has clung to her middle-class roots and middle-class ideas of child-rearing defiantly.
The first run, I just clung to the fence as the bulls passed.
With more than 88 percent of precincts reporting, Hanna clung to a six-point lead.
Unlike every other island in the region that abandoned sugar production generations ago, St. Kitts clung to it until recently.
Historical Examples
And her eyes fastened on Robin; they clung to him and wouldn't let him go.
Life and Death of Harriett FreanMay Sinclair
She clung to appearances with a tenacity that nothing could shake.
The Raid From Beausejour; And How The Carter Boys Lifted The MortgageCharles G. D. Roberts
He had forgotten it was not to him his soul had clung, but to the father of both.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
She clung to him so that he could not help feeling himself her protector.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
I cried out, and in a foolish effort to save him, I must have let go of the ledge to which I clung.
The Trail BookMary Austin
clung
- the past tense and past participle of cling
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cling
- (often foll by to) to hold fast or adhere closely (to something), as by gripping or sticking
- (foll by together) to remain in contact (with each other)
- to be or remain physically or emotionally closeto cling to outmoded beliefs
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- agriculture, mainly US the tendency of cotton fibres in a sample to stick to each other
- agriculture obsolete diarrhoea or scouring in animals
- short for clingstone
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Word Origin
Old English clingan; related to clench
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for clung
Old English clungen, past tense and past participle of cling.
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cling
v.
Old English clingan "hold fast, adhere closely; congeal, shrivel" (strong verb, past tense clang, past participle clungen), from Proto-Germanic *klingg- (cf. Danish klynge "to cluster;" Old High German klinga "narrow gorge;" Old Norse klengjask "press onward;" Danish klinke, Dutch klinken "to clench;" German Klinke "latch").
The main sense shifted in Middle English to "adhere to" (something else), "stick together." Of persons in embrace, c.1600. Figuratively (to hopes, outmoded ideas, etc.), from 1580s. Of clothes from 1792. Related: Clung; clinging.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper