clutch 
ClutcJiiii'r \\ith desperate hand 
At the gay feathers of tile shaft that lay 
Deep in his heart. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 6. 
Hurrying to him, he grasped his arm as a drowning man 
might clutch at sudden help. 
L. M. Alcott, Hospital Sketches, p. 204. 
clutch 1 (Much), n. [Early mod. E. also c/oiich ; 
< clutch 1 , i'., directly, or in the senses of 'paw, 
talon, hand,' through ME. cloche, etc., a claw, 
talon, hand: see clutch 1 , v.'] 1. A grasp or hold; 
specifically, a strong grip upon anything. 
Olive trees, centuries old, hold on to the rocks with a 
clutch as hard and bony as the hand of Death. 
B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 55. 
2. In mach. : (a) A movable coupling or lock- 
ing and unlocking contrivance, used for trans- 
mitting motion, or for disconnecting moving 
parts of machinery. See bayonet-clutch, fric- 
tion-clutch, etc. (6) The cross-head of a piston- 
rod. 3. The paw, talon, or claw of a rapacious 
animal. 
Syche buffetez he [the bear] hym rechez with hys brode 
klokes, 
Hys brest and hys brathelle was blodye alle over ! 
Morte Arthurs (E. E. T. S.), 1. 792. 
It was the hard fortune of a cock to fall into the clutches 
of a cat. Sir R. L' Estrange, Fables. 
4. Figuratively, tie hand, as representing pow- 
er ; hence, power of disposal or control ; mas- 
tery: chiefly in the plural: as, to fall into the 
clutches of an enemy. 
But all in vaine : his woman was too wise 
Ever to come into his clouch againe. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. x. 20. 
I must have . . . little care of myself if I ever more 
come near the clutches of such a giant. Stilling fleet. 
6. A hatch of eggs; the number of eggs incu- 
bated at any one time ; in the case of the do- 
mestic hen, specifically, thirteen eggs. 
Many birds rear two or three broods annually, though 
one clutch of eggs ia the rule. 
Coues, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 22S. 
clutch 2 (Much), v. A dialectal variant of chick. 
clutch-drill (kluch'dril), n. A drill turned by 
a lever the head of which clutches the drill- 
spindle or chuck only when moving in a partic- 
ular direction. A rotation of the drill in one 
direction only is thus secured. 
clutch-lamp (kluch'lamp), n. See electric light, 
under electric. 
clutchtail (kluch'tal), n. [< clutch + tail 1 ; a 
tr. of Haeckel's NL. term Labidocerca, q. y.] 
One of the American monkeys with prehensile 
tail, as a spider-monkey ( Ccbus) ', any member 
of the Labidocerca. 
cluther (kluTH'er), n. A dialectal form of clut- 
ter?. 
clutterH (klut'er), v. [Formerly clatter, < ME. 
cloteren, clotren, cloderen, clothrcn (= MD. klot- 
teren) ; freq. of clot 1 , v., q. v.] I. trans. To clot ; 
coagulate. 
It killeth them ... by ... cluttering their blood. 
Holland, tr.' of Pliny, xxv. IS. 
II. in trans. To become clotted or coagulated. 
clutter 2 (klut'er), n. [Also dial, cluther; per- 
haps < W. cludair, a heap, pile, cludeirio, pile 
up, < cludo, heap. Cf. clutter 1 and clutter 3 ."] A 
heap or collection of things lying in confusion ; 
confusion; litter; disorder. 
He saw what a clutter there was with huge . . . pots, 
pans, and spits. Sir R. L'Estrange. 
clutter 2 (klut'er), v. t. [< clutter^, n.~] To 
crowd together in disorder; fill with things 
in confusion : often with up : as, to clutter the 
things all together; to clutter up the house. 
If I have not spoken of your Majesty encomiastically, 
your Majesty will be pleased to ascribe it to the law of 'a 
history which clutters not praises together upon the first 
mention of a name, but rather disperses them, and weaves 
them throughout the whole narration. 
Bacon, To James I., Sir T. Matthew's Letters, p. 32. 
Cluttered together like so many pebbles in a tide. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 607. 
clutter 3 (klut'er), v. i. [A var. of clatter, v., per- 
haps by confusion with clutter^.] To make a 
bustle or disturbance. 
All that they 
Bluster'd and clutter'd for, you play. 
Lovelace, Lucasta (1659). 
clutter 3 (klut'er), . [A var. of clatter, n. See 
clutter^, a.] Confused noise; bustle; clatter; 
turmoil. 
The manner of thir fight was from a kind of Chariots ; 
wherin riding about, and throwing Darts with the clutter 
of thir Horse, and of thir Wheels, they oft-times broke the 
rank of thir Enemies. Milton, Hist. Eng., ii. 
Prithee, Tim, why all this clutter? 
"Why ever in these raging fits ? Surift. 
clutterment (klut'er-ment), . [< clutter^ + 
-went] Noise; bustle ;' turmoil. Urquhart. 
yo 
hi 
1064 
cly 1 (kli), n. [A var. of clithe, q. v.] Goose- 
grass. [Prov. Eng.] 
Cly' 2 (kli), n. [Thieves' cant.] A pocket. Tuft, 
Glossary of Thieves' Jargon, 1798. 
clyfaking (kli 'fa-king), n. [Thieves' cant.] 
Pocket-picking. H. Kingsley. 
Clymenia (kli-me'ni-a), n. [NL. (Miinster, 
lis:!9, also Clymene, Oken, 1815, and Clymenea), < 
L. Clymene, < Gr. KAv/itvt/, in myth, the name 
of a nymph, etc., fern, of Khv/ievof, lit. 'famous,' 
orig. ppr. pass, (equiv. to 
itkoT&s, verbal adj., = L. in- 
clutus, famous, = E. loud, q. 
v.) of lO.vuv, hear: see cli- 
ent.'] 1. A genus of fossil 
tetrabranchiate or tentacu- 
liferous cephalopods, of the 
family Nautilidce, or made 
typical of the Clymcniitln. 
having an internal siphun- 
cle and a discoidal shell 
Clymema strtata. .,1 . , ,. ,,, , , 
with simple or slightly lob- 
ed septa. There are many species, ranging 
from the Silurian to the Chalk. 2. A genus of 
porpoises, of the family Delphinidce. J. E. Gray, 
1864. 
OlymeniidSB (kli-me-nl'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Clymenia, 1, HP -idts.] A family of fossil cepha- 
lopodous mollusks, typified by the genus Cly- 
menia. 
clypeal (klip'e-al), a. [< clypeus, 2, + -al.~] 
Pertaining or relating to the clypeus Clypeal 
or frontal suture, in entom., an impressed line running 
transversely between or in front of the antenna?, and sepa- 
rating the clypeus from the front. It is seen especially in 
Hymenoptera and in many Coleoptera. Also called clypeo- 
frontal suture. Clypeal region. See extract, and cut 
under epilabrum. 
Of the clypeus of Hexapoda there is apparently no true 
homologue in Myriopoda ; in the Lysiopetalid Chilognaths 
there is, however, an interantennalcfypeflZ region slightly 
differentiated from the epicranium and forming the front 
of the head. 
A. S. Packard, Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., June, 1883, p. 197. 
Olypeaster (klip-e-as't6r), n. [NL. (Lamarck, 
1816), < L. clypeus', a shield (see clypeus), + LL. 
aster, < Gr. acrr/p = E. star.] 1. The typical 
genus of the family ClypeastridtE. 2. A genus 
of coleopterous insects. Latreille, 1829. 
Clypeasteridae (klip"e-as-ter'i-de), . pi. 
[NL.] Same as Clypeastridce. 
clypeastrid (klip-e-as'trid), . One of the Cly- 
peastridce. Also' called 
clypeastroid. 
Clypeastridae (klip-e-as'- 
tri-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Clypeaster, 1, + -4<lce.~] 1. 
A family of irregular sea- 
urchins, flattened into a 
discoidal or shield-like 
shape, with the mouth 
central and furnished with 
a masticatory apparatus; 
the shield-urchins. They 
have broad petalostichous am- 
bulacra; a 6-leafed ambulacra! 
rosette about the apical pole ; 5 
genital pores in the region of the madreporic body ; very 
small tube-feet ; the anus not central ; and the edge of the 
disk not indented. Clypeaster is the typical genus. 
2. In Gegenbaur's system of classification, a 
group of petalostichous Echinoida, represented 
by the genus Clypeaster and its relatives, as 
distinguished from the spatangoid sea-urchins. 
Also Clypeasteridce, Clypeastroidea. 
Clypeastridea (klip"e-as-trid'e-a), n. pi. [NL., 
< Clypeaster, 1, + ^idea."\ Tn'e clypeastrids 
raised to the rank of an order, and including 
such forms as Mellita, Scutella, etc. 
clypeastroid (klip-e-as'troid), a. and n. [< 
Clypeaster, 1, + -aid."] I. a. Pertaining to the 
Clypeastrida. 
II. n. Same as clypeastrid. 
Clypeastroidea (klip-'e-as-troi'de-a), n. pi. 
[NL., < Clypeaster, 1, + ' -oidea."] Same as Cly- 
neastridte. 
clypeate (klip'e-at), a. [< L. clypeatus, elipe- 
atiis, pp. of clypeare, clipeare, furnish with a 
shield, < clypeus, clipeus, a shield: see clypeus.'] 
1. Shaped like a round buckler; shield-shaped; 
scutate; scutellate. Also clypeiform. 2. In 
entom., provided with a elypeus: said espe- 
cially of the head of a hemipterous insect when 
the crown is produced in front, forming a cly- 
peus over the anterior part or face Clypeate 
tibia, in entom. , a tibia greatly expanded on the inner side, 
in a broad, shield-like piece, as in certain Crabronidce. 
clypei, n. Plural of clypeus. 
Clypeiform (klip'e-i-form), a. [< L. clypeus, a 
shield, + forma, shape.] Same as clypeate : ap- 
Clypeus. Figure of Achilles, frc 
Greek red-figured vase. 
Denrary Apparatus or Oral 
Skeleton of a Clypeastrid. 
a, a, alveolus ; d, rotula ; e, 
tooth. 
Olythridae 
plied to the large prothorax of certain beetles, 
the carapace of some crustaceans, etc. 
clypeofrontal (klip"e-6-fron'tal), a. [< L. 
(NL.) clypeus (see clypeus) + frons (front-), 
forehead, + -al. See frontal."] 
In entom., common to the cly- 
peus and front Clypeofrontal 
suture, the clypeal or Irontal suture 
(which see, under clypeal). 
Clypeola (kU-pe'o-la), n.; pi. 
cli/i>eolce (-le). [NL., lit. a r , ..... 
M , . i -, T a -r i Clypeola of Equise- 
Small Shield, dim. Of L. CltJ- tm. with sporangia. 
pens, a shield: see clypeus.'] fom h i!c d( Mu r fand 
A name of the shield-shaped Decafeiw-s "Traite 
-uj. i_ > i_ ii (Teneral de Bota- 
bodies which compose the Sique.") 
fruiting spike of species of 
Equisetum. Each is borne on a horizontal pedicel, and 
each bears on its inner face from 6 to 9 sporangia. Also 
cltfpeole. 
Clypeolate (kli-pe'o-lat), a. [< clypeola + 
-ale 1 ."] Provided with or pertaining to clype- 
oles. 
clypeole (klip'e-61), . [< clypeola."] Same as 
clypeolii, 
clypeus (klip'e-us), n. ; pi. clypei (-i). [L., also 
written clupeus, prop, clipeus, a shield; prob. 
akin to clepere, steal, orig. hide. ] 1 . In archceol. : 
(a) A large cir- 
cular shield, 
with a convex 
outer and con- 
cave inner sur- 
face. (6) An or- 
namental disk, 
of marble or 
other substance, 
in the shape of 
a shield, often 
sculptured in re- 
lief, hung in 
the intercolumniations of the atria of Roman 
dwellings, etc. Examples have been found at 
Pompeii and elsewhere. 2. [NL.] In entom., 
properly, that part of the upper surface of an 
insect's head which lies before the front or 
forehead, and behind the labrum when the 
latter is present ; a fixed sclerite immediately 
in front of the epicranium, and to which the 
labrum is attached. See cut under Hymenop- 
tera. By Huxley and other anatomists the front is in- 
cluded in this term, being distinguished as the clypeus 
superior, or suprach/peus. Some of the older entomolo- 
gists, notably Fabricius and Illiger, applied the term cly- 
peus to the labrum. In Diptera. it is probably represent- 
ed by the part called the hypostotna or face ; but in that 
order the name is applied to a more or less horny fold on 
the upper part of the membrane connecting the proboscis 
with the bonier of the mouth, properly answering to the 
labrum, In the Ileteroptera the clypeus is a process of 
the upper part of the head or crown, which in some spe- 
cies extends over the face. Often called the epistwna, 
especially when it is small or softer than the surrounding 
parts ; also natnts and pr&latum. 
3. [cap."] [NL.] A genus of fossil echiuoderms. 
C, sinuatus is an example. 
Clysmian (kliz 'mi -an), a. [< Gr. KAVO/M, a 
drench, + -MOT. Cf. clysmic."] Relating to or 
of the nature of a cataclysm: as, clysmian 
changes. [Rare.] 
clysmic (kliz'mik), a. [< Gr. Moua, & liquid 
used for washing out, a drench (< K/U'fv, wash, 
cleanse), + -4c.~] Washing; cleansing. Craig. 
[Rare.] 
clyster (klis'ter), n. [Formerly also clister, 
and glyster, glister; = D. klisteer = MHG. clis- 
ter, G. klystier = Ban. klyster = Sw. klistir, < 
OF. clistere, F. clystere = Sp. clister, clistel = 
Pg. clistel, clyster = It. clistere, < L. clyster, LL. 
also cluster, a clyster, a clyster-pipe (LL. clys- 
terhim, < Gr. K^varr/ptov, a clyster), < Gr. KAvarqp, 
a clyster, prop, the clyster-pipe, < Mfetv, wash, 
cleanse ; cf. L. cluere, purge, Goth, hlutrs, pure.] 
An enema ; an injection. 
clysterize (klis'ter-iz), . t. : pret. and pp. clys- 
terlzed, ppr. clystcrizing. [< LL. clysterizare, < L. 
clyster, a clyster.] To administer an enema to. 
clyster-pipe (klis'ter-pip), . [Formerly also 
clisterpipe.~] The anal tube of an enema-syringe. 
Clythra, Olytra (klith'ra, klit'ra), n. [NL. 
(in form Clytra Laicharting, 1781; Germar. 
1824); a word of no meaning.] A genus of 
beetles, of the family Cryptocephalidce, formerly 
referred to Chrysomelulce, now made the type 
of a distinct family. C. quadrisignata is an ex- 
ample. 
Glythridae (klith'ri-de), . pi. [NL. (Kirby, 
1837), < Clythra + -idee.] A family of beetles, 
typified by the genus Clythra, and characterized 
by serrate antennas and confluent anterior cox- 
al cavities. 
