cling1

[kling] /klɪŋ/
verb (used without object), clung, clinging.
1.
to adhere closely; stick to:
The wet paper clings to the glass.
2.
to hold tight, as by grasping or embracing; cleave:
The children clung to each other in the dark.
3.
to be or remain close:
The child clung to her mother's side.
4.
to remain attached, as to an idea, hope, memory, etc.:
Despite the predictions, the candidate clung to the belief that he would be elected.
5.
to cohere.
noun
6.
the act of clinging; adherence; attachment.
Origin
before 900; Middle English clingen, Old English clingan to stick together, shrink, wither; akin to clench
Related forms
clinger, noun
clingingly, adverb
clingingness, noun
unclinging, adjective
Synonyms
2. clutch, grab, hug.

cling2

[kling] /klɪŋ/
noun
1.
a clingstone.
Origin
1835-45; by shortening from clingstone, or special use of cling1 (noun)
Examples from the web for cling
  • Yet academics cling to their offices on campus as if to life itself.
  • Over time, residue from laundry detergents and fabric softeners may cling to the inside of the washer.
  • Vines typically cling to walls by suction disks at ends of tendrils.
  • Perhaps because dry armpits sometimes build up static cling.
  • Beads of dew cling to the florets that spiral inside a sunflower head.
  • DO not cling to the same way of dressing your hair regardless of the changes wrought by time.
  • Characters cling to one another and are clearly visually clumped into words.
  • The body has sent blood to the vital organs in a last effort to cling to life.
  • Even so, traditionalists cling to film's reliability.
  • Researchers have long known that people cling to their personal biases more tightly when feeling threatened.
British Dictionary definitions for cling

cling

/klɪŋ/
verb (intransitive) clings, clinging, clung
1.
(often foll by to) to hold fast or adhere closely (to something), as by gripping or sticking
2.
(foll by together) to remain in contact (with each other)
3.
to be or remain physically or emotionally close: to cling to outmoded beliefs
noun
4.
(agriculture, mainly US) the tendency of cotton fibres in a sample to stick to each other
5.
(agriculture, obsolete) diarrhoea or scouring in animals
6.
short for clingstone
Derived Forms
clinging, adjective
clinger, noun
clingingly, adverb
clingy, adjective
clinginess, clingingness, noun
Word Origin
Old English clingan; related to clench
Word Origin and History for cling
v.

Old English clingan "hold fast, adhere closely; congeal, shrivel" (strong verb, past tense clang, past participle clungen), from Proto-Germanic *klingg- (cf. 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.