• IPA: /ˈklɪŋ/

cling (plural clings)

1. Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.
2. adherence; attachment; devotion
   • 1641, John Milton, Animadverſions upon The Remonſtrants Defence againſt Smectymnuus, London; reprinted in A Complete Collection of the Hiſtorical, Political, and Miſcellaneous Works of John Milton, […] , volume I, Amsterdam, 1698, page 139 ↗:

     a more tenacious cling to worldly reſpects,

cling (clings, present participle clinging; past and past participle clung)

1. To hold very tightly, as to not fall off.

   Seaweed clung to the anchor.

   • 2017, Jennifer S. Holland, For These Monkeys, It’s a Fight for Survival., National Geographic (March 2017)

     Cartoonish, wide-eyed infants cling to their mothers or play together low to the ground.

2. To adhere to an object, without being affixed, in such a way as to follow its contours. Used especially of fabrics and films.
3. (transitive) To cause to adhere to, especially by twining round or embracing.
   • 1732, Jonathan Swift, An Examination of Certain Abuses in the City of Dublin

     I […] clung my legs as close to his sides as I could.

4. (transitive) To cause to dry up or wither.
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, Act V, scene v

     If thou speak'st false, / Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, / Till famine cling thee.

5. (intransitive) To dry up or wither.

   Wood clings.

6. (figurative, with preposition to) to be fond of, to feel strongly about and dependent on

• (hold tightly) clinch, grip; see also Thesaurus:grasp
• (adhere) cleave, stick; see also Thesaurus:adhere

• French: accrocher, accrocher, coller, coller
• German: haften, klammern
• Italian: aggrapparsi , abbarbicarsi, appiccicarsi, avvilupparsi, aderire, attaccarsi
• Portuguese: agarrar
• Russian: льнуть
• Spanish: sostener, aferrar, sujetar, agarrar

• German: hängen
• Italian: radicarsi, fissarsi
• Russian: цепля́ться
• Spanish: estar apegado a, aferrarse

cling (clings, present participle clinging; past and past participle clinged)

1. To produce a high-pitched ringing sound, like a small bell.
   • 1913, Cleveland Moffett, ‎Oliver Herford, The Bishop's Purse (page 121)

     The tiny chimes clinged the hours and quarters against his right and Kate's left ear. They counted nine and three-quarters.