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Idioms about clutch

    in the clutch, in a crucial, must-win, make-or-break moment: You need subs who can come off the bench and score in the clutch.
    come in clutch, to deliver or perform what is needed at just the right time or at the last possible moment: I missed the bus, which would've made me late for my interview, but a neighbor came in clutch and gave me a ride.

Origin of clutch

1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English clucchen, variant of clicchen, Old English clyccan “to clench”

synonym study for clutch

1. See catch.

OTHER WORDS FROM clutch

clutch·ing·ly, adverbclutch·y, adjective

Other definitions for clutch (2 of 2)

clutch2
[ kluhch ]
/ klʌtʃ /

noun
a hatch of eggs; the number of eggs produced or incubated at one time.
a brood of chickens.
a number of similar individuals: a clutch of books; a whole clutch of dancers.
verb (used with object)
to hatch (chickens).

Origin of clutch

2
First recorded in 1715–25; variant of cletch (now dialectal); akin to Scots cleck “to hatch,” from Old Norse klekja “to hatch”
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use clutch in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for clutch (1 of 2)

clutch1
/ (klʌtʃ) /

verb
noun

Word Origin for clutch

Old English clyccan; related to Old Frisian kletsie spear, Swedish klyka clasp, fork

British Dictionary definitions for clutch (2 of 2)

clutch2
/ (klʌtʃ) /

noun
a hatch of eggs laid by a particular bird or laid in a single nest
a brood of chickens
informal a group, bunch, or cluster
verb
(tr) to hatch (chickens)

Word Origin for clutch

C17 (Northern English dialect) cletch, from Old Norse klekja to hatch
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

Other Idioms and Phrases with clutch

clutch

see grasp (clutch) at straws.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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