pearl clutch Idiom

a clutch hitter (baseball)

a batter who hits when runners are on base Joe's a clutch hitter. He's batting .431 with runners on base.

clutch hitter (baseball)

(See a clutch hitter)

ride the clutch

drive a car with your foot on the clutch pedal If you ride the clutch, we will soon have to replace it.

clutch at straws

Idiom(s): clutch at straws

Theme: HOPE

to continue to seek solutions, ideas, or hopes that are insubstantial.
• When you talk of inheriting money, you are just clutching at straws.
• That is not a real solution to the problem. You are just clutching at straws.

Clutch play

If an activity is referred to as a clutch play, it means that the activity was the key to the success or failure of the venture. For instance, a clutch play in a baseball game may be striking out a batter with the bases loaded.

Succeed in the clutch

If you succeed in the clutch, you perform at a crucial time; it is particularly used in sports for the decisive moments of the game. The opposite is 'fail in the clutch.'

grasp at straws|at straws|clutch|clutch at straws|

v. phr. To depend on something that is useless or unable to help in a time of trouble or danger; try something with little hope of succeeding. To depend on your memory without studying for a test is to grasp at straws. The robber clutched at straws to make excuses. He said he wasn't in the country when the robbery happened.

ride the brake|brake|clutch|ride|ride the clutch

v. phr., informal To keep your foot on the pedal. Riding the brake is a bad habit for a driver to form.

clutch

clutch
see grasp at straws.

pearl-clutch

To acknowledge in a scandalized or ashamed address to once-salacious but now almost accepted things, events, situations, etc. Parents should try not to pearl-clutch every time their teenagers appear out of their allowance dressed outrageously—it alone makes them appetite to advance the envelope alike further. My mother would consistently pearl-clutch whenever I began cogent her about a new boyfriend, so eventually I chock-full bushing her in altogether.

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More Idioms/Phrases

cloth clothing cloud cloud over cloud-cuckoo land clover club clue in clutch coal coast coast is clear, the coattail coattails cobbler