cling

noun
/ˈklɪŋ/

Etymology

From Middle English clingen, from Old English clingan (“to adhere”), from Proto-West Germanic *klingan, from Proto-Germanic *klinganą. Cognate with Danish klynge (“to cluster, to crowd”). Compare clump.

  1. inherited from *klinganą
  2. inherited from *klingan
  3. inherited from clingan — “to adhere
  4. inherited from clingen

Definitions

  1. Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.

    • Antelope steaks and fried liver to begin on, and venison cutlets with chili con carne and pineapple fritters, and then some sardines and mixed pickles; and top it off with a can of yellow clings and a bottle of beer.
  2. Adherence

    Adherence; attachment; devotion.

    • a more tenacious cling to worldly reſpects,
  3. An ornament that clings to a window so as to be seen from outside.

    • You can make window clings by using thin transparency sheets, school glue, food coloring, and templates.
  4. + 8 more definitions
    1. To hold very tightly, as to not fall off.

      • Seaweed clung to the anchor.
      • And what hath life for thee / That thou shouldst cling to it thus?
      • Third-class carriages are grossly overcrowded, with passengers lying on the luggage racks, standing between the benches, and occasionally even riding on the footboards and clinging to the outsides of the coaches for short distances.
    2. To adhere to an object, without being affixed, in such a way as to follow its contours.…

      To adhere to an object, without being affixed, in such a way as to follow its contours. Used especially of fabrics and films.

    3. To cause to adhere to, especially by twining round or embracing.

      • I[…] clung my legs as close to his sides as I could.
    4. To cause to dry up or wither.

      • If thou speak'st false, / Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, / Till famine cling thee.
    5. To dry up or wither.

      • Wood clings.
    6. To be fond of, to feel strongly about and dependent on.

    7. To produce a high-pitched ringing sound, like a small bell.

      • The tiny chimes clinged the hours and quarters against his right and Kate's left ear. They counted nine and three-quarters.
      • The latter, armed with the most famous tool of their trade — tiny clinging bells — created a small band of untrained orchestra giving their part of the market a festive outlook […]
    8. Imitative of a high-pitched ringing sound.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at cling. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01cling02pit03ensemble04instrumentalists05instrumentalist06adherent07clinging

A definitional loop anchored at cling. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at cling

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA