How to Use cling in a Sentence
- The children clung together under the little umbrella waiting for the storm to pass.
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Waves spun them around the cove as the stranger clung to Badet’s board.
—Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Sep. 2023
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The top has a V-neck, puff sleeves, and a loose fit that won’t cling to you.
—Isabel Garcia, Peoplemag, 31 Aug. 2023
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The wrapper clings to the bulging lump of filling in the middle.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2023
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If some of the batter clings to the pick, close the oven door, and give the muffins a few more minutes.
—Melissa Gray, Southern Living, 18 Sep. 2023
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The sauce clings to the pasta and packs a mean punch of spicy, funky, sweet, salty flavor.
—Bon Appétit Contributor, Bon Appétit, 16 Dec. 2023
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The four-year old, Oliver, was clinging to his au pair in the pool.
—Parker Henry, The New Yorker, 3 July 2023
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The team members clung to the skids and rocket pods of the helicopter.
—Matt Seyler, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2023
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That person was still clinging to the car when it was stopped.
—CBS News, 21 June 2023
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The magnet will cling to a stud's screw or nailhead inside the wall.
—Kelly Allen, House Beautiful, 30 Mar. 2023
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Below me, the vines spilled toward the Ligurian Sea, the town of Corniglia clung to the cliff, and boats glided in the bay.
—Julia Buckley, Travel + Leisure, 18 Nov. 2023
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Available in sizes up to XXL, the shirt has a comfortable roomy fit that won't cling to you.
—Isabel Garcia, Peoplemag, 30 Apr. 2023
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Doughty went back into the game in the final minute of the third quarter with Ben Davis clinging to a 36-33 lead.
—The Indianapolis Star, 26 Mar. 2023
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The Suns clung to a 90-88 advantage entering the fourth.
—Tyler Dragon, USA TODAY, 6 May 2023
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There, amid a grove of pawpaw trees, were a few with the bulbous, lumpy fruits still clinging on.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2023
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Toros clinging to a 7-0 lead at Baldwin County at the half.
—Ben Thomas | Bthomas@al.com, al, 8 Sep. 2023
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His salty teen-boy cologne clung to his T-shirt, which had little rips at the neckline.
—Sarah Stankorb, ELLE, 17 Aug. 2023
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After a rocky start to the month, the S&P is clinging to a 0.3% advance in January.
—Hardika Singh, WSJ, 16 Jan. 2024
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Keep in Mind: Grime can cling to the head, which can be difficult to fully clean.
—Jack Byram, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Apr. 2023
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The Celtics were clinging to a lead and couldn’t afford to lose it to further extend the series.
—Gary Washburn, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Apr. 2023
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As time wound down, the Eagles clung to a 38–35 lead over the Detroit Lions, facing fourth-and-one.
—Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2023
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Yet despite Moody and Paul — game-high +10 in the first half — playing well, the Warriors clung to just a two-point lead at half.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2024
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But the students and teachers alike are clinging to it as one of the few remaining sources of hope.
—Christina Goldbaum, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Mar. 2023
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In Texas, Jared Farley clung again to a cellphone tower 300 feet above ground.
—Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 13 Aug. 2023
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This is also about Boston's past clinging hard to its present like poop on a shoe.
—Mike Freeman, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2023
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Cobb attempted to drive away, a trooper clinging to the car on both sides.
—Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 27 Jan. 2024
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She was born in London and clung to her English accent all her life.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 16 July 2023
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Step back, zoom out, stop clinging to your measly private past.
—Willing Davidson, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023
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Journalism, my beloved profession, still clings to the virtues of distance and detachment.
—Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
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Passengers in front and behind us whispered, a few stood up, and some clung to the bars and handles.
—Literary Hub, 2 Feb. 2026
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The clings are meant to be peeled off after the party and reused at the next event.
—Bonnie McCarthy, latimes.com, 16 Dec. 2017
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The starch helps the oil cling to the pasta and gives the dish a perfect — not greasy — texture.
—America's Test Kitchen, Chicago Tribune, 7 June 2023
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Well then, these bloody handprint window clings are the item for you.
—Courtney Thompson, CNN Underscored, 3 Oct. 2019
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Add a splash of the pasta cooking water to the sauce; the starch in the water will help the sauce cling to the noodles even more.
—Marygrace Taylor, SELF, 2 Mar. 2023
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Even so, a shameful whiff of idleness clings to the writer.
—Nathan Wolff, Washington Post, 13 June 2023
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Sweet, tangy dill and butter cling to tender, crisp potatoes.
—Sunset Staff, Sunset Magazine, 17 Nov. 2022
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How laundry detergents work Warding off the grime and funk that cling to clothes takes more than just a spin in the washing machine.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2023
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Keith’s chill delivery begets rapid rhymes that hang among the bells and whistles and clings and clangs of the arcade’s vintage machines.
—Kevin Warwick, Chicago Reader, 15 Dec. 2017
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Trace our free template onto a piece of thick plastic cling film to easily transfer the pattern to the pumpkin.
—Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 Sep. 2022
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For heavy pots, stick a chopstick in a few inches; if damp particles of soil cling, hold off on watering.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, House Beautiful, 11 Aug. 2020
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That’s where the vast majority of the people suffer and the few cling to power and thrive by exploiting others.
—Peter Georgescu, Forbes, 19 Apr. 2021
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The town is hoping to transform the site and surrounding area into an outdoor public space, but for now, cobwebs cling to the bell that used to ring in lunch break at the mill.
—Jabin Botsford, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2023
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This morning, teams of workshop participants are using sheets of plastic cling wrap to skim dead sperm off the surface of the swimming pools.
—Michelle Nijhuis, Discover Magazine, 12 Oct. 2018
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As the Sox cling to their long-shot playoff hopes, players like Porcello, Holt and the others are trying to improve their own positions.
—Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Sep. 2019
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Starting the last week of August, Ela will also harvest freestones — peaches with pits that fall right off the fruit’s flesh — as opposed to clings, which do just what their name suggests.
—Josie Sexton, The Know, 28 Aug. 2019
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Install new ones with a low-E coating, or line old windowpanes with an adhesive or static-cling film.
—Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Nov. 2022
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The lab’s stone expert, Jean-Didier Mertz, proudly showed off his myriad machines, glass atriums and vault stones wrapped in kitchen cling-film.
—Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2019
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Several spots on the T-shirt and hat clearly reject any attempt by the ketchup and mustard mixture to cling, whereas others afford it a bit of purchase.
—Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, 4 July 2018
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Pickled mustard greens are essential, the tang offsetting the velvet cling of liquid fat.
—New York Times, 25 Jan. 2018
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One simple and inexpensive precaution is a window cling that alerts first responders that a pet is inside the home.
—Kelly McBride, Cincinnati.com, 27 June 2017
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Building a tool that can mimic how real-life clothes drape, fold, cling, stretch and wrinkle starts with photographs of a range of real models with different body shapes and sizes.
—Charlotte Hu, Popular Science, 14 June 2023
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Install new windows with a low-E coating, or line old windowpanes with an adhesive or static-cling film.
—Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Mar. 2021
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With the feature, shoppers can see how an item would drape, fold, cling, stretch or form wrinkles and shadows on a diverse set of models in various poses, according to the company.
—Samantha Kelly, CNN, 14 June 2023
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Customers station themselves at the table, the windowsill or a low shelf, each set with a saltshaker and an enormous bottle of Valentina hot sauce, which brings good cling, upfront heat and a citrus coda.
—Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 4 May 2017
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The walls, curiously, have been carefully covered with fresh plastic cling wrap—like a serial killer would prepare his basement—to catch flying fish scales and for faster, easier cleanup.
—Adam Davidson, The New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2017
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When peeling poblanos, don’t worry if some skin clings; as long as most is removed, the peppers will be tender.
—Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 3 Jan. 2026
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The ancient monastery clings to the rock face, suspended between earth and sky like a benediction.
—Shunali Khullar Shroff, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Nov. 2025
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These sheets have a great cling to them.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 26 Sep. 2025
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The robust sauce clings to the pasta, creating a dish far greater than the sum of its parts.
—Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 Sep. 2025
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The smell of hot cereal and damp earth clings low in the air.
—Brad Japhe, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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