cling: [OE] The basic underlying sense of cling seems to be ‘stick, adhere’, but surviving records of the word in Old English reveal it only in the more specialized senses ‘congeal’ or ‘shrivel’ (the notion being that loss of moisture causes something to contract upon itself or adhere more closely to a surface). It is not really until the late 13th century that the more familiar ‘adhere’ (as in ‘a wet shirt clinging to someone’s back’) begins to show itself, and no hint that ‘clinging’ is something a human being can do with his or her arms emerges before the early 17th century.
The word goes back to a prehistoric Germanic base *klingg-, whose variant *klengk- is the source of English clench [13] and clinch [16]. => clench, clinch
cling (v.)
Old English clingan "hold fast, adhere closely; congeal, shrivel" (strong verb, past tense clang, past participle clungen), from Proto-Germanic *klingg- (cognates: Danish klynge "to cluster;" Old High German klinga "narrow gorge;" Old Norse klengjask "press onward;" Danish klinke, Dutch klinken "to clench;" German Klinke "latch").
The main sense shifted in Middle English to "adhere to" (something else), "stick together." Of persons in embrace, c. 1600. Figuratively (to hopes, outmoded ideas, etc.), from 1580s. Of clothes from 1792. Related: Clung; clinging.
实用例句
1. The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.
鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。
来自柯林斯例句
2. She had to cling onto the doorhandle until the pain passed.
她不得不抓紧门把手，直到那阵疼痛过去。
来自柯林斯例句
3. She had to cling onto the door handle until the pain passed.
她只好紧紧握住门把手，直到不疼了才松开。
来自柯林斯例句
4. He appears determined to cling to power.
看来他决心要抓住权力不放。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Members of a family should cling together in times of trouble.
