Other forms: clinging, clung, clings
To cling is to hold on and refuse to let go. Cling to the rail, clinging on, cling film.
The past tense is clung. It suggests desperation or fear rather than a firm grip: a child clings, a climber holds. Figuratively, to cling to a belief or a hope is to keep it against evidence. Cling film is the British name for thin plastic wrap. Note clingy, which of a person means demanding constant closeness and is a complaint; and that cling is one of the few strong verbs English has not regularised.
1verbclingTo hold on and refuse to let go.
“The frightened child clung to her mother's coat all the way through the crowd.”
2verbkeepTo keep a belief or hope against the evidence.
“Even after the crash, he clung to the belief that his business would survive.”
cling is a holding tight.
Old English clingan meant to shrink or stick together, from a Germanic root about contracting. The idea of holding tight came from shrivelling onto something rather than grasping it.
Proto-Germanic
*klinganą
Proto-West Germanic
*klingan
Old English
clingan — to adhere
Middle English
clingen
English, today
cling
From Middle English clingen, from Old English clingan (“to adhere”), from Proto-West Germanic klingan, from Proto-Germanic klinganą. Cognate with Danish klynge (“to cluster, to crowd”). Compare clump.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA