/cling/definition

cling

-) Verb.

-) Pronunciation: klɪŋ.

-) Etymology: from Anglo-saxon clingan (= to adhere; to shrivel).

-) Third-person singular simple present: she (he) clings.

-) Preterite tense, preterite participle: clung.

-) Present participle: clinging.

-) Intransitively: 1. Obsolete and pristine uses: a. (Of clay, liquids, etc.) to become stiff, as on freezing, on congealing, or on drying. b. (Of animal or vegetable tissue) to shrink, or wither, as from heat, cold, etc.

-) 2. (Of the molecules, or of the particles of a homogeneous body) to adhere to each other in cohesion; to be in cohesion.

-) Synonyms for “cling”: cohere, join.

-) Antonyms: divide, disjoin, unfasten, disintegrate.

-) Translation: cohesionarse, in Spanish; aderire, in Italian; adhérer, in French.

-) With the preposition “to” + noun designative of the particle that is in cohesion:

[…] I know that, while one stone clings to another, it [the place] will be defended.

Pierce Egan… Robin Hood 1840

Adhesion is the force with which two bodies of different kinds cling to each other when united; cohesion is that which unites the particles of a homogeneous body with each other. Thus, the particles which form a drop of water or quicksilver are united by cohesion; the particles of water which wet the surface of any body are united to it by adhesion.

Thomas Brande… A dictionary of science… 1842

Cohesion is that property by which the particles of a body cling to each other.

George Quackenbos… A natural philosophy 1860

-) With the adverb “together”, in a pleonastic construction:

[Atoms] by mutual attraction, cohere or cling together in masses of various form and magnitude.

Neil Arnott… Elements of physics 1828

Knowing […] that any visible mass of matter is a collection of minute atoms, it may be asked by what cause they are made to cohere or cling together?

Mechanic and engineer’s magazine… 1842

The dust, grains, or atoms, in all varieties of shape and size, adhere or cling together by a power called attraction.

Jabez Hogg… Elements… 1853

-) 3. a. (Of an unanimated body) to adhere accidentally to another; this is, to become in accidental apposition with another; to become in superficial contact. b. (of unanimated bodies) to become accidentally juxtaposed.

The farther business of the hemp-dresser need only be an easy beating of the hemp, and that chiefly to separate the fibres that may have clung together in the drying.

The complete Farmer 1767

Not a word could he utter, for his tongue, in its fright, clung with terror to his upper jaw.

Frederick Marryat… Olla… 1840

By the river-side we see pieces of straw, chips, and other light bodies, clinging to each other, whirling in the eddies, and keeping on their journey together.

Jabez Hogg… Elements… 1853

M. Donny has proved that, if water be thoroughly purged of its air, a long glass tube filled with this liquid may be inverted, while the tenacity with which the water clings to the tube, and with which its particles cling to each other, is so great that it will remain securely suspended, though no external hindrance be offered to its descent.

John Tyndall… The Glaciers of the Alps 1860

All that week it was hard weather. The grass showed white in the morning with the hoar-frost which clung like tiny comfits to every blade.

MacDonald… At the Back of the North Wind 1868

-) 4. (Of a part of the animal or vegetable body) to be in natural adherence to another; this is, to be naturally continuous to each other.

-) Synonyms: cohere, join.

-) Antonyms: divide, disjoin, disintegrate.

When they issued from the stunted woods which clung to the barren sides of the mountain, upon a flat and mossy rock that formed its summit, they met the morning.

Cooper… The last of the Mohicans 1826

It was almost a skeleton-hand; but the black and rotting flesh still clung to it, and the fibres were not so far decomposed as to cease to hold the joints of the fingers together.

George Reynolds… The mysteries of London 1844

Among the bare trees, the fig occupies a conspicuous place. […] Their old leaves cling to them almost until they [… leaf again] in spring.

John Dix… A winter in Madeira… 1850

The apples that are not ripe cling to the tree.

Jacob Abbott… Learning about common things 1857

[…] a few straggling leaves, withered up by the nipping air, still clung to tree and coppice.

Whyte-Melville… Holmby house 1860

[…] some apples cling to the tree until they rot.

Pennsylvania Farmer and Gardener 1861

He examined the skulls; but the hair, portions of which clung to nearly all of them, was in every case that of an Indian.

Francis Parkman… France and England… 1908

-) 4. (Of skin) to become continuous to a bone as the result of losing muscle.

When this disease has been properly treated, and apparently subdued, this horse cannot be quickly and summarily dismissed to his work. He is sadly emaciated […] his skin clings to his ribs.

Youatt… The Horse 1872

-) 5. a. (Of an animated being) to adhere to someone or something, by using a prehensile organ, so tenaciously as to prevent oneself from falling, from being driven, etc.; or so caressingly as to imply love, sexual desire, etc.; or so despondently as to imply the request of protection. b. (Of a crawler) to adhere to the surface of something or someone, either to locomote over it or to wait there.

-) Translation: asirse (de), in Spanish; attaccarsi (a), in Italian; s’accrocher (à), in French.

-) Antonyms: detach, become disconnected.

-) Synonym: attach oneself.

The falcon […] flies to the animal, that, knowing its danger, endeavours, but too late, to escape. The falcon soon coming up with its prey, fixes its talons, one into the animal’s cheek, the other in its throat […]. The falcon clings with the utmost perseverance, nor ever leaves its prey till it falls.

Oliver Goldsmith… A history of the earth… 1774

[Charles] tried to force himself between the two females, who clung close together, to baffle his purpose.

Hannah Jones… The Gipsy Mother 1833

A sudden shout went round the wall. It was echoed from side to side, from quarter to quarter. It startled every sleeper, even to the babe on its mother's breast. All knew that there was some fearful danger […]. Little boys and girls sprang up in their night clothes, and clung round their parents.

Martha Sleeper… History of the Swiss 1859

-) With the preposition “about” or “round” + the thing or animated body whose periphery the clinger is reaching:

[…] his mother and sisters clung about his neck, and, kissing him tenderly, cried and sobbed aloud.

Thomas Jacobs… Adventures in the Pacific Ocean 1844

The good woman […] was weeping […], when she started up with a scream, and ran behind her husband.  Her cry was so terrified, that the children started from their sleep and from their beds, and clung about her.

Dickens… The Haunted Man… 1848

-) With the preposition “to” (to imply idea of contact by means of the one of direction) before the thing or animated body that is in contact with the clinger:

The young sloth, from tlhe moment of its birth, clings to the body of its parent until it gains sufficient size and strength to shift for itself.

Oliver Goldsmith… A history of the earth… 1774

All along the swampy banks of the river Niger […], where the sun is hot, the forests thick, and the men but few, the serpents cling among the branches of the trees […]

Oliver Goldsmith… A history of the earth 1774

 [The oran-outang] keep clung to the breast [of its mother], and adhere both with legs and arms.

Oliver Goldsmith… A history of the earth… 1774

[The Carolina Parrots] are particularly attached to the large sycamores, in the hollow of the trunks and branches of which they generally roost, thirty or forty, and sometimes more, entering at the same hole. Here they cling close to the sides of the tree, holding fast by the claws and also by the bills.

Alexander Wilson… American ornithology 1808

[…] with a startled and ghastly consciousuess, they recognized each other. The wife staggered, and clung to a post for support.

Bulwer-Lytton… Paul Clifford 1830

Almost instinctively Margaret clung to Norfolk for protection; and the latter, grasping her in his arms, rushed with her to the edge of the platform.

Hannah Jones… The Scottish Chieftains 1831

Still I clung to the rope with the force of a drowning man, and Mr. Turnbull did the same to me, and we shortly made our appearance at the hole in which we had been plunged.

Marryat… Jacob Faithful 1842

The remainder of the crew rose to the surface and clung to the side of the boat.

Marryat… Jacob Faithful 1842

At length he regained the boat, but the savages clung to the gunwales with so much tenacity, that it was almost impossible to shove her off amid the mob.

Thomas Jacobs… Adventures in the Pacific Ocean 1844

The woodpeckers flew from tree to tree, or clung to the rails of the fences.

Marryat… The Settlers in Canada 1844

For the moment Luke could not realize the truth of what he saw. Either, he told himself, it was some mistake, or his eyes deceived him, and he had not seen Sage Portlock -the woman who had promised to be his wife- half embraced by Cyril Mallow, to whom she seemed to cling.

Forester Fitz-David… Alice Littleton 1859

Only two men floated. They both clung to the main yard of the ship, which had broken from the mast, and now supported them.

Dickens… A Child’s History of England 1867

-) Reciprocally:

[The bats] are there in such numbers, that, when they fly, they obscure the setting sun. In the morning, at peep of day, they are seen sticking upon the tops of the trees, and clinging to each other, like bees when they swarm.

Oliver Goldsmith… A history of the earth… 1774

They clung to each other like two children who have been frightened by a nightmare.

Alice Miller… The Sturdy Oak 1917

-) With the preposition “by “+ noun of the prehensile organ or of the hold:

The earth-worm […], in order to move forward, lengthens the body; then, by the forepart clings to the ground where it has reached, and then contracts and brings up its rear.

Oliver Goldsmith… A history of the earth 1774

A very beautiful male [bird] was brought me this season, […] which I put into a wire cage, and placed in a retired shaded part of the room. After fluttering about for some time, the weather being uncommonly cool, it clung by the wires, and hung in a seemingly torpid state for a whole forenoon.

Alexander Wilson… American Ornithology 1808

An immense casuarina tree far out-topped the rest, and its branches were loaded with a vast number of blackish [… beings], which we took for crows at a distance, but which proved to be bats when we came nearer. They clung to the twigs by the hooked claws, which are at the extremity of their webbed fingers and toes; sometimes they hung with the head downwards, and sometimes the reverse.

Robert Kerr… Voyages and Travels 1824

[These insects] clung by their hinder feet to some bush, twig, or corner of a stone.

William Kirby – W. Spence… Entomology 1828

Arthur was making his way down, his face to the cliff, to which he clung by both hands, grasping the tufts of grass and seizing hold of bits of rock as he went.

Lovett Cameron… The mystery… 1838

I managed with great difficulty to set my foot on this, snatched at, and caught hold of, the top of the rock with the ends of my fingers […] —with strength more than natural I clung by my hands alone.

Charles Johns… A week at the Lizard 1848

Ruthven now drew his dagger, and calling out that their business was with Riccio, made an effort to seize him; whilst this miserable victim, springing behind the queen, clung by her gown.

Patrick Tytler… History of Scotland 1864

-) With the preposition “with” + noun of the prehensile organ:

I was dreadfully frightened, and so giddy that I clung to him with both hands.

Dickens… Great expectations 1861

The Australian opossum is a marsupial quadruped, living in trees and feeding on insects, eggs, and fruits. Its body is about twenty-five inches in length, besides which it has a long prehensile tail, with which it clings to the branches of the trees in which it lives.

Samuel Smiles… A Boy's Voyage…1872

-) 6. (Of a garment) to fit closely the wearer because it is not large enough or because it is wet.

-) With the preposition “about”, or with “to”, before the noun of the person wearing the garment:

The frock was of light silk, and clung to her with wet, and her feet were protected merely by thin slippers.

Emily Bronte… Wuthering Heights 1847

The air was cold and frosty, and their wet garments clung to them like ice.

Allan Pinkerton… The Spy… 1883

Townshead assisted them to unpack the hamper, and while they were busy over it, his daughter came in. It was apparently raining, for the thin white dress clung about her, and she seemed very white and weary.

Harold Bindloss… Alton of Somasco 1905

Silverdale stood still, and Maud Barrington smiled curiously as she glanced down at the long white robe that clung very daintily about her and then towards her companions in the tennis field.

Bindloss… Winston of the Prairie 1907

-) 7. (Of a plant) to adhere to the surface of anything (a wall, another plant, etc.) while extending in its growth.

The rose and honeysuckle clung to the cottage walls; the ivy crept round the trunks of the trees; and the garden-flowers perfumed the air with delicious odours.

Dickens… Oliver Twist 1838

The vegetation was thick by the river bank. Great plants, as yet unnamed, grew among the roots of the big trees, […]. Many flowers and a creeper with shiny foliage clung to the exposed stems.

Herbert Wells… The Treasure in the Forest 1894

They found wild grapes, […] in the woods, and gathered them by cutting down the trees to which the vines clung.

Francis Parkman… France and England… 1908

-) 8. Metaphorical: a. (The subject: something incorporeal) to be, become, or continue to be, related to something else or someone, as if in adherence. b. (The subject: a person) to continue to do something incorporeal (as a practice, an use, etc.), as if one were applied to it.

I could not shake off the bodement; it clung upon me like a cold waxen winding-sheet, until I could see nothing but dangers in our sailing.

John Galt… Lawrie Todd 1830

Every where there is a class of men who cling with fondness to whatever is ancient.

Thomas Macaulay… History of England 1849

He felt that nothing could ever make him care for anyone but her; he clung to her remembrance as a faithful mastiff would to that of an absent master.

T. Gwynne… The school for fathers 1852

-) Transitively: (it is rarely used) to cause (something) to cling to something else.

-) Synonym: to fasten.

[…] although I made use of his tail for a bridle, holding it fast with both my hands, and clung my legs as close to his sides as I could, yet we both came down together into the middle of the kennel.

Swift… The Prose Works 1803

Elthrida recovered her consciousness, and rushed towards Albert, who clung his left arm as fast as a bar of gold round her waist.

The Olio, or, Museum of entertainment… 1833

-) English words derived from CLING: clinger, cling (noun), clinginess, clinging (noun, adj.), clingingly, clingingness, clingy, uncling.