## Meanings
1. To hold on to something very tightly.
2. To stick closely to a surface.
3. To stay emotionally attached to something and refuse to let go.

## Examples
- The child clung to her mother's hand in the crowd.
- The wet shirt clung to his back.
- They cling to the hope that he will return.

## Derived Forms
- anticling
- cling-wrap
- clinger
- clingfilm
- clingfish
- clingsome
- clingstone
- clingwrap
- clingy
- noncling
- uncling

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: clingen
- Root: clingan
- Root: *klingan
- Root: *klinganą

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Cling is 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. Important recorded forms include clingen (Middle English), clingan (Old English), *klingan (Proto-West Germanic), and *klinganą (Proto-Germanic). Current senses include to hold on to something very tightly, to stick closely to a surface, and to stay emotionally attached to something and refuse to let go. The wider family includes derived forms such as anticling, cling-wrap, clinger, clingfilm, and clingfish.

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