Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use cling in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb, interjection

Cling means fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit. Example: “Seaweed clung to the anchor.”

Examples of cling by meaning

nounFruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.

  • Antelope steaks and fried liver to begin on, and venison cutlets with chili con carne and pineapple fritters, and then some sardines and mixed pickles; and top it off with a can of yellow clings and a bottle of beer.1908, O. Henry, Hostages to Momus

nounAn ornament that clings to a window so as to be seen from outside.

  • You can make window clings by using thin transparency sheets, school glue, food coloring, and templates.2004, Diane M. Hyde, Year-Round Classroom Tips

verbTo hold very tightly, as to not fall off.

  • Seaweed clung to the anchor.
  • Third-class carriages are grossly overcrowded, with passengers lying on the luggage racks, standing between the benches, and occasionally even riding on the footboards and clinging to the outsides of the coaches for short distances.1950 February, W. Dendy, “Impressions of the Indian Railways—3”, in Railway Magazine, page 120

verbTo produce a high-pitched ringing sound, like a small bell.

  • The tiny chimes clinged the hours and quarters against his right and Kate's left ear.1913, Cleveland Moffett, Oliver Herford, The Bishop's Purse, page 121

More sentences with cling

  • When the mob men finally found him, they gave him a good going over that left him clinging to life.From the entry going over
  • Although he claims to be a postmodernist, his misappreciation of the philosophy is such that he still clings to the idea of absolute truth.From the entry misappreciation
  • The morning after Election Day, the Oregon governor's race is still a jump ball, but ex-NBA player Chris Dudley is clinging to a slim lead.From the entry jump ball
  • I don’t grumble, even though eba clings to surfaces, especially wooden ones, like superglue.2023, Stephen Buoro, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, Bloomsbury Circus, page 18. From the entry eba
  • As roots clutch the gully soil and cling to the slopesides.2022, Gregory Day, Words Are Eagles. From the entry slopeside
  • Therefore, clinging to this illusion is not only pointless but potentially harmful.2022 August 6, Heather Hutchinson, “I'm Just a Rhetorical Dirtbag, Baby.”, in MacEwan University Student EJournal, volume 6, number 1, →DOI. From the entry dirtbag left
  • Tae-Wol had witnessed lice furiously scrambling, trying to cling to this patient's stubbly pubic growth.2021 February 2, Ina Park, Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs, Flatiron Books, →ISBN. From the entry groomer
  • The man clings to his need to induratize as if it's indentured servitude.2018, Jody Kaye, Cavanaugh: A Kingsbrier Quintuplets Novel. From the entry induratize
  • It is a greyish white, high melting metal, very clinging, not very ductile and with difficulty malleable.2016, Ferenc Szabadváry, R. Belcher, L. Gordon, History of Analytical Chemistry, page 15. From the entry clinging
  • They cling high in the branches and drop at the first sign of life below.2012, Marion Lennox, Taming the Brooding Cattleman (Sweet Romance), Chatswood, N.S.W.: Harlequin Mills & Boon, →ISBN. From the entry drop bear
  • A cast of blue crabs weathered the underwater turbulence by clinging to coral with their claws.2011, J. E. Bright, Deepwater Disaster, Stone Arch Books. From the entry cast
  • She would feel ridiculous slinking around in clinging lame dresses and teeteringly high heels, playing the seductress.2008, Suzanne White, The New Chinese Astrology. From the entry teeteringly
  • While she continued to cling to his arm, Lorraine pouted again.2006, Christine W. Murphy, Through Iowa Glass, Hard Shell Word Factory, published 2006, →ISBN, page 23. From the entry Lori
  • Then affirming and clinging and loving it away in that old sensual dream.2002, Elizabeth Von Vogt, An Awful Intimacy, page 208. From the entry love away
  • They still cling on to their Cricket Club, Tanglin Club and Polo Club".1984, Ranjit Chatterjee, Colin Nicholson, Tropic Crucible: Self and Theory in Language and Literature, page 179. From the entry Dutch leave
  • Others cling to the notion of progress and change over time.1981 December 27, Wade Nichols, “Victorian Imperialism”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 23, page 5. From the entry march
  • Others cling to the notion of progress and change over time .1981 December 27, Wade Nichols, “Victorian Imperialism”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 23, page 5. From the entry march to a different drummer
  • The older women wear their dresses conservatively long and still cling to the brightly- coloured "kopdoek" (headcloth).Willem Steenkamp (1975), Land of the Thirst King, H. Timmins, →ISBN. From the entry kopdoek
  • They are clinging to infantile fantasies and show themselves unable to face reality."1947, Valentine Davies, chapter 10, in Miracle on 34th Street, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, page 63. From the entry Kris Kringle
  • Lipstick, creme base of satin sheen and incredible clinging power. 9 luscious shades.1946 February 25, “Louis Philippe”, in Life, page 20, column 1. From the entry creme-y
  • Clinging to the rails that bordered the area was a woman.1924, Edgar Wallace, The Face in the Night. From the entry one over the eight
  • To this the Yogi must cling (yoktavyah) steadfastly (nischayena) and undespondingly (nirvinna chetasâ).1923, R. S. Taki, chapter VI, in De Carmine Dei Deorum; or, On the Song of the God of Gods […], part I (Theology or the Science of God)…. From the entry undespondingly
  • Her assiduity in clinging to ideals of modest begins to abate as a result.1919, Gertrude Harding, The Higher Aspect of Nursing, W. B. Saunders Company, pages 180–181. From the entry persnickety
  • It steals in through the tent flaps with a "chilth” that damply clings.1917, Ralph W. Bell, Canada in War-paint, page 12. From the entry chillth
  • Here philosophic thought overgrows art and compels it to cling close to the trunk of dialectics.1909, Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by W[illia]m A. Haussmann, edited by Oscar Levy, The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche: The…. From the entry chrysalis
  • And yet the beglassed one clings to her glasses nine times out of ten.1906 June 30, “As It Is In Paris: Catherine Talbot Tells of a New Musical Fad, How to Sit For a Portrait, and Describes Some Smart…. From the entry beglassed
  • What are younger people, especially, to make of a political culture in which incumbents cling so tenaciously to their seats?2023 September 24, David Remnick, “The Washington Gerontocracy”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC…. From the entry incumbent
  • "The PM’s private reassurances are worthless given her track record of u-turns and her clear desperation to cling to power."2017 June 11, “DUP leader hails 'good progress' with Theresa May”, in The Scotsman, archived from the original on 10 Jul 2025. From the entry desperation
  • Cambridge is my alma mater in truth, and I do tend to cling to her skirts, despite Eddy's disgust.2016, Helen Callaghan, Dear Amy, →ISBN, page 173. From the entry cling to the skirts of
  • Wrap log in cling wrap; chill overnight.2013, Sarah Wilson, I Quit Sugar Christmas Cookbook, →ISBN, page 24. From the entry cling wrap
  • The glutinous oats cling to her mouth.2013 November 24, “Photo to put end to eating disgust”, in The Examiner, Launceston, Tas., page C.4. From the entry Shrekky
  • Currents and awesome wind with floatsome foam and dreg clinging dog paddle through mountainous seas toward safety of shore.2012, Garrison Clifford Gibson, Temporal Cross Currents. From the entry floatsome
  • By the time he'd finished, his clothes were clinging to his body, revealing the canted v-line of his torso.2012, D.H. Starr, Feed. Prey. Love.: Whispering Hills, →ISBN, page 33. From the entry v-line
  • He became more clinging, more mischievous and more difficult.2008, John Bowlby, Attachment. From the entry clinging
  • He saw no mother but a washerwoman at her skivvying and the dirt-faced children that would be clinging to her skirts.2001, Jamie O’Neill, At Swim, Two Boys, London: Scribner, Part 2, Chapter 13, p. 361. From the entry skivvy

Meaning of cling

  1. noun Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.
  2. noun Adherence; attachment; devotion.
  3. noun An ornament that clings to a window so as to be seen from outside.

Full definition of cling

Questions about cling in a sentence

How do you use cling in a sentence?
Cling is used as a noun, verb and interjection. For example: “Seaweed clung to the anchor.”
What is a short sentence with cling?
“Seaweed clung to the anchor.”
What does cling mean?
Cling means fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cling (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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