different between attached vs cling

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??tæt?t/
• Rhymes: -æt?t
• Hyphenation: at?tached

Verb

attached

1. simple past tense and past participle of attach

Adjective

attached (comparative more attached, superlative most attached)

1. Connected; joined.
2. Fond of (used with to).

   I'm very attached to my pets.

3. In a romantic or sexual relationship.

   As far as I know, he isn't attached, so I'm going to invite him out on a date.

   I'm not ready to get attached, as I want to continue sleeping around.

4. (botany, mycology) Broadly joined to a stem or stipe, but not decurrent.

   In this group of mushrooms, the attachment of the gills to the stipe ranges from attached to almost decurrent.

5. Of a residential building, sharing walls with similar buildings on two, usually opposite, sides.

Coordinate terms

• (sharing two walls): detached, semiattached

Translations

Anagrams

• deattach

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kl??/
• Rhymes: -??

Etymology 1

From Middle English clingen, from Old English clingan (“to adhere”), from Proto-Germanic *klingan?. Cognate with Danish klynge (“to cluster, to crowd”). Compare clump.

Noun

cling (plural clings)

1. Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.
2. adherence; attachment; devotion

Verb

cling (third-person singular simple present clings, present participle clinging, simple past and past participle clung)

2. To hold very tightly, as to not fall off.

   Seaweed clung to the anchor.

   • 2017, Jennifer S. Holland, For These Monkeys, It’s a Fight for Survival., National Geographic (March 2017)[1]

     Cartoonish, wide-eyed infants cling to their mothers or play together low to the ground.
3. To adhere to an object, without being affixed, in such a way as to follow its contours. Used especially of fabrics and films.
4. (transitive) To cause to adhere to, especially by twining round or embracing.
   • 1732, Jonathan Swift, An Examination of Certain Abuses in the City of Dublin

     I […] clung my legs as close to his sides as I could.

5. (transitive) To cause to dry up or wither.
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, Act V, scene v

     If thou speak'st false, / Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, / Till famine cling thee.

6. (intransitive) To dry up or wither.

   Wood clings.

7. (figuratively, with preposition to) to be fond of, to feel strongly about and dependent on

Synonyms

• (hold tightly): clinch, grip; see also Thesaurus:grasp
• (adhere): cleave, stick; see also Thesaurus:adhere

Derived terms

• clingy
• cling film/clingfilm

Translations

References

• cling in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• cling in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• Notes:

Etymology 2

Imitative; compare clink, clang.

Verb

cling (third-person singular simple present clings, present participle clinging, simple past and past participle clinged)

1. To produce a high-pitched ringing sound, like a small bell.
   • 1913, Cleveland Moffett, Oliver Herford, The Bishop's Purse (page 121)

     The tiny chimes clinged the hours and quarters against his right and Kate's left ear. They counted nine and three-quarters.

Middle English

Verb

cling

1. Alternative form of clingen