[klʌtʃ], (Verb)

Definitions:
- grasp (something) tightly
(e.g: he stood clutching a microphone)


Phrases:
- clutch one's pearls
- in the clutch
- let in the clutch
- let out the clutch

Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘bend, crook’): variant of obsolete clitch ‘close the hand’, from Old English clyccan ‘crook, clench’, of Germanic origin

[klʌtʃ], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a tight grasp
(e.g: she made a clutch at his body)

- a mechanism for connecting and disconnecting an engine and the transmission system in a vehicle, or the working parts of any machine
(e.g: she let the clutch in and the car surged forward)

- a clutch bag


Phrases:
- clutch one's pearls
- in the clutch
- let in the clutch
- let out the clutch

Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘bend, crook’): variant of obsolete clitch ‘close the hand’, from Old English clyccan ‘crook, clench’, of Germanic origin

[klʌtʃ], (Adjective)

Definitions:
- (in sport) denoting or occurring at a critical situation in which the outcome of a game or competition is at stake
(e.g: they both are hard-nosed players who seem to thrive in clutch situations)


Phrases:
- clutch one's pearls
- in the clutch
- let in the clutch
- let out the clutch

Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘bend, crook’): variant of obsolete clitch ‘close the hand’, from Old English clyccan ‘crook, clench’, of Germanic origin

[klʌtʃ], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a group of eggs fertilized at the same time, laid in a single session and (in birds) incubated together
(e.g: they lay fewer than ten eggs in a clutch)


Phrases:

Origin:
early 18th century: probably a southern variant of northern English dialect cletch, related to Middle English cleck ‘to hatch’, from Old Norse klekja