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# cling

«cling» in Mova's school dictionary: **to hold on to it very tightly** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (cling, clings, clung, clinging)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To cling to something is to hold on to it very tightly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#m1)

2) To cling means to stick closely to something or someone (wet clothes cling to your body). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#m2)

3) To cling to an idea or hope is to keep believing it even when it is hard. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories a frightened child clings to a parent, a climber clings to a rock, a survivor clings to a log in the sea. In science, things that cling stick to a surface, like cling film or a static balloon on a wall. Phrases: cling to, cling on, cling together, cling film.

### examples

- The baby monkey clung to its mother's back. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x1)
- The cat clung to the branch with its claws. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x2)
- My wet T-shirt clung to me after the rain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x3)
- Hold on and cling to the rope! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x4)
- The little boy clung to his dad on the first day of school. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x5)
- She clung to the hope that her lost dog would come home. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x6)
- We covered the bowl with cling film. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x7)
- A sock was clinging to my jumper when it came out of the dryer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x8)
- She could see the men clinging to the masts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/#x9)

### note

Irregular verb: cling, clung, clung (not «clinged»). Usually followed by «to» or «on» (cling to the rope). «Clingy» describes someone who wants to be with you all the time. «Cling film» (UK) = «plastic wrap» (USA).

### In the corpora

- [Burns are cooled under cool running water for 20 minutes, then covered loosely with cling film or a clean dressing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/6-burns-sunburn-and-stings/5/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «cling» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cling/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.