3 entries under this word
v. t. [imp. & p. p. CLUTCHED (klŭcht); p. pr. & vb. n. CLUTCHING.] [O. Eng. clouch, clouche, claw, grasp, akin to Ger. kluppe, O. H. Ger. chluppa, claw, tongs.]
Not that I have the power to clutch my hand When his fair angels would salute my palm. Shak.
v. i. To catch; to snatch;—often followed by at. “Clutching at the phantoms of the stock-market.” Bancroft.
n. 1. A gripe or clinching with the fingers; seizure; grasp. “The clutch of poverty.” Cowper.
But Age, with his stealing steps, Hath clawed me in his clutch. Shak.
Sense 2. (Mach.) (a.) A projecting tooth, or other piece of machinery, for connecting shafts with each other, or with wheels, so as to be disengaged at pleasure. (b.) The cross-head of a piston-rod.
Sense 3. (pl.) The hands; hence, power; rapacity; cruelty.
I must have . . . little care of myself, if I ever more come near the clutches of such a giant. Stillingfleet.