clutching

Only weeks earlier I’d run into a tarantula on the trail’s edge clutching a still-living insect in its long furry arms — several hikers were hovering over it, snapping photos with paparazzi-like fervor.

"Sometimes in the past when we lost, they were clear losses and we were clutching at straws. I don't feel we are clutching at straws now. We lost, but we're close."

Here was a middle-aged woman, fresh off a run, casually clutching a pair of earphones in her hand while she placed an important work call.

Police arrived to find Quinn clutching a knife, which he threw down, and admitted what he had done.

He eventually got the door open and, after briefly clutching his right thigh, climbed into the seat with some effort.