Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Sense: 1-2,4
Date: 1600-1700
Origin: CLUTCH1
Sense: 3
Date: 1700-1800
Origin: cletch 'clutch' (17-19 centuries), from cleck 'to hatch' (15-19 centuries), from Old Norse klekja

clutch

2 noun
     
clutch2
1 [countable] the pedal that you press with your foot when driving a vehicle in order to change gear,or the part of the vehicle that this controls
2

somebody's clutches

[plural] the power, influence, or control that someone has:
a small boy trying to escape from his mother's clutches
in somebody's clutches
She'll have him in her clutches soon enough.
3

clutch of something

a small group of similar things:
a clutch of eggs (=the number of eggs laid by a bird at one time)
a clutch of young mothers
4 [singular] a tight hold that someone has on something [= grip, grasp]:
I shook myself free of her clutch.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
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