clinging (to)

verb

present participle of cling (to)
1
as in keeping (to)
to give steadfast support to continued to cling to the old ideas of child rearing long after they had gone out of fashion

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clenching
to have or keep in one's hands clung to a pole in the subway car to keep from falling as it lurched along

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for clinging (to)
  1. standing by
  2. clenching
  3. defending
  4. clutching
  5. gripping
  6. holding
  7. grabbing
Verb
  • Hialeah Gardens police officers raced to the burglary 911 calls and found the two men standing by a pickup truck in the area of 8800 Northwest 116th Terrace.
    — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The organizers of a plan aimed at making Pittsburgh's South Side safer are standing by their efforts.
    — Jessica Riley, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of standing by
Verb
  • Janet held the phone away from her ear, clenching her teeth against Maggie’s booming voice.
    — Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 23 July 2026
  • His workouts, jaw-clenching pull-ups and all, regularly appear on social media.
    — Missy Ryan, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026
Definition of clenching
Verb
  • Over the past several years, South Korea has emerged as a world-class military power – not quite on the level of the US or China, but certainly capable of defending itself against North Korea.
    — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
  • To flip control of the Senate, where Republicans currently hold 53 seats, Democrats would have to win four seats while defending a handful of their own.
    — Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of defending
Verb
  • The footage shows Williams clutching Nathaniel as heavy waves repeatedly smash into them.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Gabriel Gudmundsson limped out of the friendly with Liverpool on August 2 after clutching at his right hamstring.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of clutching
Verb
  • The conflict is still gripping the region and there is no resolution in sight.
    — Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Your other arm will be fully extended and death-gripping the other end of the handlebar.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of gripping
Verb
  • But that’s not what Parkinson wants from his holding players, as shown by James being 84th in the same metric.
    — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2026
  • In a hearing on Wednesday, a judge ruled that Iron Mountain must hand over any physical devices holding the data, Current reported today.
    — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of holding
Verb
  • The trio of founders allegedly told investors that the brand would feature an app as its centerpiece and be boosted by major advertising deals and attention-grabbing celebrity photo shoots and cover stories.
    — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2026
  • One of the most attention-grabbing stars in the sky still keeps its secrets close—and that is one of the main reasons astronomers have so much fun studying it.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of grabbing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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clinging
clinging (to)
clings
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Cite this Entry

“Clinging (to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clinging%20%28to%29. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

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