cling

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Unto thy garments’ fringe they cling, and haste

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Definitions (21)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. intransitive verb To hold fast or adhere to something, as by grasping, sticking, embracing, or entwining: clung to the rope to keep from falling; fabrics that cling to the body.
  2. intransitive verb To remain close; resist separation: We clung together in the storm.
  3. intransitive verb To remain emotionally attached; hold on: clinging to outdated customs.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (10)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • For a time the edenite force-film would hold; but it depended on a carefully designed metal hull beneath it; without that smooth and precision-engineered metal capsule on which to cling, the film of force could not be maintained forever—might go at any second! —  Pohl, Frederik ; Williamson, Jack - [Undersea 03] - Undersea City [MNQ]
  • I stared at him with a heart-squeezing ache that made me want to grab him and cling, as if that would somehow keep him safe. —  EmbracetheNight
  • On the glass alone it did not cling, and Tess wondered at that. —  Rachel Lee - Shadows of Destiny
  • You merely cling, and stare at the emptiness where you might so easily have been left, and tell Fenner inanely over the radio, “We made it.” The hull shuddered slightly. —  Alpha Centauri Or Die - Leigh Brackett
  • Dust could cling, at least until the tripod reversed its static charge, but there were no hinges or grooves where grit could be trapped Greg had used the robotic tripods on Earth several times, once he had the budget to afford them. —  AnalogSFF,March2006
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Used in the same contextWord Family

cling:   clung ·  clinging ·  clings
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English clingen, from Old English clingan.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from (1) Middle English clingen (preterit clang, plural *clungen, clonge, past participle clungen, clongen), adhere closely, also shrink, shrivel, from Anglo-Saxon clingan (preterit clang, plural *clungon, past participle ge-clungen), shrink, shrivel, in comp. be-clingan, hold in, surround; (2) mixed with Middle English clengen (preterit clenged), properly factitive of preceding, = German klingen, climb, = Danish klynge, cluster, crowd (klynge, a cluster, klynge op, hang up, klynge sig op, clamber up), = Swedish klänga, climb (klänge, a tendril); associated in sense, and perhaps ult. in origin (ult. √ *kli?), with climb, clamber, clam, clam, etc., clive, cleave, etc.: see these words.
  2. from cling, v.
 

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/klɪŋ/
by American Heritage

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