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A gripe or clinching with, or as with, the fingers or claws; seizure; grasp. "The clutch of poverty." Cowper. An expiring clutch at popularity. Carlyle. But Age, with his stealing steps, Hath clawed me in his clutch. Shak.

A friction clutch with conical bearing surfaces.

A friction clutch in which the gripping surfaces are disks or more or less resemble disks.

To open, as something closely shut. "Unclutch his griping hand." Dr. H. More.

receive it, and which thus serves to engage or disengage parts of the machinery. Bayonet clutch. See Clutch. -- Bayonet joint, a form of coupling similar to that by which a bayonet is fixed on the barrel of a musket. Knight.

Act of cleeking; a clutch. [Scot.]

ission arrangement in which the longitudinal crank shaft drives the rear wheels through a clutch, change-speed gear, countershaft, and two parallel side chains, in order.

A clutch formed of hooked pieces of iron, like double calipers, for raising stones, lumber, blocks of ice, etc.

Producing only two eggs for a clutch, as certain birds do.

A piece in machinery acting as a catch or clutch; especially, the carrier of a lathe, also, an adjustable stop to change motion, as in a machine tool.

e into gear with; as, the teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another, or one part of a clutch engages the other part.

The state of being in gear; as, one part of a clutch is brought into engagement with the other part.

To catch; to seize, as with the teeth; to lay hold of; to gripe; to clutch. [Obs.] Shak. He's in the law's clutches; you see he's fanged. J. Webster.

A clutch fitted in the rear hub of a cycle, which engages the rear sprocket with the rear wheel when the pedals are rotated forwards, but permits the rear wheel to run on free from the rear sprocket when the pedals are stopped or rotated backwards. Freewheelcycles are usually fitted with hub brakes or rim brakes, opera…

to rotate together, by the hold the friction of the conical surfaces gives. (b) A toothed clutch, one member of which, instead of being made fast on its shaft, is held by friction and can turn, by slipping, under excessive strain or in starting. -- Friction drop hammer, one in which the hammer is raised for striking b…

The crosspiece of a bayonet clutch.

To gripe suddenly; to seize; to snatch; to clutch.

To effect a grasp; to make the motion of grasping; to clutch; to struggle; to strive. As one that grasped And tugged for life and was by strength subdued. Shak. To grasp at, to catch at; to try to seize; as, Alexander grasped at universal empire,

A car with a grip to clutch a traction cable.

To catch with the hand; to clasp closely with the fingers; to clutch.