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Antonyms for cling

Grammar : Verb
Spell : kling
Phonetic Transcription : klɪŋ

Definition of cling

Origin :
  • 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.
  • verb attach to
Example sentences :
  • Their skin does not cling so closely as the skin of oranges.
  • Extract from : « Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 5 » by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
  • She must have something to which she could cling if it were nothing more than a familiar routine.
  • Extract from : « Dust » by Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
  • She didn't seem willin' to have me go; she seemed to cling to me.
  • Extract from : « Samantha Among the Brethren, Part 1. » by Josiah Allen's Wife (Marietta Holley)
  • If we cling not to Him, our names to that document will be but as dust.
  • Extract from : « The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII) » by John Greenleaf Whittier
  • I cling for a second to what is, and then I fling myself headlong into what is to be.
  • Extract from : « My Double Life » by Sarah Bernhardt
  • Wrayson would have spoken then, but his tongue seemed to cling to the roof of his mouth.
  • Extract from : « The Avenger » by E. Phillips Oppenheim
  • I could not put one foot before the other, but could only cling to his arm in silence.
  • Extract from : « The First Violin » by Jessie Fothergill
  • But he was able to cling to the weapon, and meet each onslaught with hot metal.
  • Extract from : « Salvage in Space » by John Stewart Williamson
  • They cling on, they multiply, they live in spite of everything.
  • Extract from : « Abbe Mouret's Transgression » by Emile Zola
  • There cling to him still the limitations and dregs of his brute life.
  • Extract from : « The Meaning of Evolution » by Samuel Christian Schmucker

Synonyms for cling

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019