clutch

verb

1. (transitive)To seize, as though with claws.

   “to clutch power”

   “A man may set the poles together in his head, and clutch the whole globe at one intellectual grasp.”

   “Is this a Dagger, which I ſee before me, [...] ? / Come, let me clutch thee: / I haue thee not, and yet I ſee thee ſtill.”

2. (transitive)To grip or grasp tightly.

   “She clutched her purse tightly and walked nervously into the building.”

   “Not that I haue the power to clutch my hand,”

3. To win despite being the only remaining player on one's team, against several opponents.

   “For quotations using this term, see Citations:clutch.”

4. (broadly)To unexpectedly or luckily succeed in a difficult activity.
5. (collective, transitive)To hatch.

noun

1. The claw of a predatory animal or bird.
2. (broadly)A grip, especially one seen as rapacious or evil.

   “I muſt have great leiſure, and little care of my ſelf, if I ever more come near the Clutches of ſuch a Giant, who ſeems to write with a Beetle inſtead of a Pen; […]”

   “Should when he pleaſes, and on whom he will / Wage war, with any or with no pretence / Of provocation, giv'n or wrong ſuſtained, / And force the beggarly laſt doit, by means / That his own humour dictates, from the clutch / Of poverty, that thus he may procure / His thouſands weary of penurious life / A ſplendid opportunity to die?”

   “The more cunning heads thought it was all an expiring clutch at popularity, on the part of a Minister, whom domestic embarrassments, court intrigues, old age, and dropsy soon afterward finally drove from the helm.”

   “You scold yourself; you know it is only your nerves—and yet, and yet … In a little while, it is impossible to resist the terror that seizes you, and you are helpless in the clutch of an unseen horror.”

3. A device to interrupt power transmission, commonly used to separate the engine and gearbox in a car.
4. The pedal in a car that disengages power and torque transmission from the engine (through the drivetrain) to the drive wheels.
5. Any device for gripping an object, as at the end of a chain or tackle.
6. A fastener that attaches to the back of a tack pin to secure an accessory to clothing. (See Clutch (pin fastener).)
7. A small handbag or purse with no straps or handle.

   “The clutch which I had made to save myself in falling had torn away from this chin-band and let the lower jaw drop on the breast, but little else was disturbed, and there was Colonel John Mohune resting as he had been laid out a century ago.”

8. (US)An important or critical situation.

   “to come in clutch”

   “And when it came to the clutch, Johnny Mize, who was washed up five years ago, would crack out a pinch double, or Mickey Mantle, who is not yet ready for the big leagues, would slam out a home run.”

   “He is the player who has come through so often in the clutch during his days at Camarillo.”

   “Stempel came through in the clutch again. GM's across-the-board launch of the catalytic converter was a coup that left Ford and Chrysler gaspind in the dust.”

   “But not just strong women: women who don’t turn to a man in the clutch; women whose strength is inseparable from the walls they’ve built around themselves.”

9. A difficult maneuver.
10. (collective)A brood of chickens or a sitting of eggs; a sitting.

    “For instance, baby chicks influence their mother’s behaviour by giving high piercing cheeps when they are lost or cold. This usually has the immediate effect of summoning the mother, who leads the chick back to the main clutch.”

11. (collective)A group or bunch (of people or things).

    “No longer would Britons routinely blame the national government when things went wrong. Instead they would demand action from a new clutch of elected mayors, police commissioners and the like.”

    “And, so, although the Zeros knocked out four dive bombers (two of them permanently and two forced to abort), the other eleven made it to a position above Shōkaku, which pulled a neat evasive turn that sent the first clutch of thousand-pound bombs into the sea.”

adj

1. (Canada, US)Performing or tending to perform well in difficult, high-pressure situations.

   “NC State made the most of their overtime possession scoring a touchdown on some very clutch plays.”

   “I start with his most obvious characteristic: he was clutch. He is Mr. Clutch. In the last chapter I mentioned that Bernie Williams was clutch, which was a valid assessment, but nobody on the Yankees was as clutch as Jeter was.”

   “It doesn't get more clutch than that!”