What's the difference between clutch and grab?

Clutch


Definition:

  • (n.) A gripe or clinching with, or as with, the fingers or claws; seizure; grasp.
  • (n.) The hands, claws, or talons, in the act of grasping firmly; -- often figuratively, for power, rapacity, or cruelty; as, to fall into the clutches of an adversary.
  • (n.) A device which is used for coupling shafting, etc., so as to transmit motion, and which may be disengaged at pleasure.
  • (n.) Any device for gripping an object, as at the end of a chain or tackle.
  • (n.) The nest complement of eggs of a bird.
  • (n.) To seize, clasp, or gripe with the hand, hands, or claws; -- often figuratively; as, to clutch power.
  • (n.) To close tightly; to clinch.
  • (v. i.) To reach (at something) as if to grasp; to catch or snatch; -- often followed by at.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Damn that Beltran, what a clutch postseason performer.
  • (2) When Guillem was approached by French Vogue to be photographed seven years ago she was presented with a clutch of the world's best fashion photographers to choose from.
  • (3) "I have just seen a piece of straw flying over, which the hon lady is attempting to clutch at!"
  • (4) An average of 241,273 viewers gathered round the television (hospital bed) clutching the remote (bag of grapes) staring at the small screen (out of the window).
  • (5) Expecting defeat, but somehow clutching on to hope … Well, Frank [Skinner] and David [Baddiel] wrote that part of the lyrics, but the reason I got them in after the FA asked me to write a song was that I thought it was only worth making if it reflected how it feels to be a football fan.
  • (6) On arriving in Cyprus, Mike was the only person present to celebrate leaving the clutches of Egypt’s national airline.
  • (7) I’ve known them for over 10 years,” said Eugene Ward, 43, clutching a bag of water bottles and beer cans.
  • (8) Aston Villa goalkeeper intercepts and clutches the ball to his chest.
  • (9) Despite the absence of a comprehensive deal, a clutch of local agreements have been reached, the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) said in a report last June.
  • (10) We have rescued 26 children from the clutches of human traffickers in the past 20 days and sent them to rehabilitation centres,” said Sanjeev Kumar, a senior labour official in Bihar’s East Champaran district.
  • (11) When I flew to Salisbury shortly afterwards, the man in the next seat was clutching a thick polythene bag full of small metal objects.
  • (12) Wearing a white dress, black jacket and patent leather sandals, and clutching her mobile phone and keys, she could be on her way to an office in one of the capital's new skyscrapers, instead of walking past a patchwork of bean and sweet potato fields en route to the village's tin-roofed administration offices.
  • (13) Pilgrims from all over the world, many weeping and clutching precious mementos or photographs of loved ones, jostle beneath its soaring domes every day.
  • (14) With Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriguez still missing, Koeman is reliant on a small clutch of attackers including Dusan Tadic, Sadio Mané, Shane Long, Steven Davis and Graziano Pellè.
  • (15) On return to their nests, the birds immediately resumed incubation and laid a second clutch of eggs after 5 days at which time the first clutch was removed.
  • (16) In his attempt to justify the unjustifiable, Mr Grieve has clutched at a fragile constitutional doctrine and adopted a deeply dubious legal course.
  • (17) A practical preventive measure would be to encourage manufacturers to equip machines with remotely located spring-opening clutches.
  • (18) But I am trying to claw the innocent joy of Halloween out of the cold, deadened clutches of the Zombie of Forced Sexiness.
  • (19) To describe this course of action as "clutching at straws" is to flatter it.
  • (20) Shara Proctor, who might have had hopes of gold while Okagbare busied herself with the 200m, managed only two steps of a run-up before clutching at her left thigh and leaving the arena with her hoodie pulled sorrowfully around her face.

Grab


Definition:

  • (n.) A vessel used on the Malabar coast, having two or three masts.
  • (v. t. & i.) To gripe suddenly; to seize; to snatch; to clutch.
  • (n.) A sudden grasp or seizure.
  • (n.) An instrument for clutching objects for the purpose of raising them; -- specially applied to devices for withdrawing drills, etc., from artesian and other wells that are drilled, bored, or driven.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) During the couple's 30-year marriage she had twice reported him to the police for grabbing her by the throat, before they divorced in 2005.
  • (2) The ruling centre-right coalition government of Angela Merkel was dealt a blow by voters in a critical regional election on Sunday after the centre-left opposition secured a wafer-thin victory, setting the scene for a tension-filled national election in the autumn when everything will be up for grabs.
  • (3) Montreal also took advantage of the power play, as Tomas Vanek (again, another necessary scorer) grabbed one with the man advantage near the end of the second period to make it 3-0.
  • (4) Van Gaal argued that Huth had grabbed Fellaini’s considerable hair and claimed it ought to have been a penalty but the Football Association’s disciplinary department will surely take action.
  • (5) In a trailer shown Sunday for an upcoming documentary on state-run Rossiya-1 television called “Homeward bound”, Putin openly discusses Moscow’s controversial grabbing of Crimea a year ago.
  • (6) And also fear of the police because they weren't there and thinking any minute they could just run through and grab or hit anyone.
  • (7) One little boy grabbed me and pleaded with me, that the Jungle was not a good place, and he didn’t want to be there.” Last month, protesters staged a die-in at St Pancras station in London against plans to clear the area of the Jungle.
  • (8) The "fly on the wall" stuff is no more for the moment but, Andy, grab the opportunities when you can – a few years down the line when Cameron is on the lecture circuit and the rest of us are hanging up our cameras for good, you should have an unprecedented photographic record of a seat of power.
  • (9) Egypt • Morsi is due to meet senior judges to try to reach a compromise over the decree, viewed by many as a power grab.
  • (10) At that point I was grabbed by the Belgian secret service and slammed against the glass.
  • (11) I think the heart of good comedy really lives in truth and reacting to the absurdities, hypocrisies, abuses of power in the world.” Late night television is a no longer a glass of warm milk before bed, it’s a lunch buffet And as TV viewership declines and internet virality becomes as important as real-time eyeballs, cable networks might find that topical comedy is a smart, cost-effective way to grab cross-platform attention.
  • (12) Another officer grabbing Mann by the collar and threatening his family – to arrest his wife’s “black ass” and ensure he would not see his young son grow up, Mann recalled in an interview – if he did not snitch on a heroin dealer.
  • (13) Latino Review has a track record of attention-grabbing scoops, though its accuracy has occasionally been called into question.
  • (14) He is the embodiment of the belief that money and power provide a licence to impose one’s will on others, whether that entitlement is expressed by grabbing women or grabbing the finite resources from a planet on the verge of catastrophic warming.
  • (15) Then King grabbed the podium and set his prepared text to his left.
  • (16) "At lunchtime, he would grab food from other children's plates and eat it, and that was a cause of concern for the school staff."
  • (17) The bomb threat tweet was sent to Freeman, the Europe editor of Time magazine, Catherine Mayer, and the Independent columnist Grace Dent, who took a screen grab of the tweet and posted it for her Twitter followers to see .
  • (18) Who knows, maybe it's not the worst thing in the world for the Eastern Conference to be completely up for grabs.
  • (19) A waiter grabbed a table cloth to use as a stretcher, but a photographer took the boy in his arms to carry him to the ambulance.
  • (20) As night fell, one teenager, Alex, who had slipped out of an independent school (she refused to say which one) was heading home, pausing only grab a flier advertising a "Snow Rave" for 16-18-year-olds.