clash (klash)

The clash of arms and voice of men we hear. Sir J. Denham , Æneid, ii. Here he was interrupted by something which fell with a heavy clash on the street before us. How oft the hind has started at the clash Of spears, and yell of meeting armies here. Scott. Bryant , To the A pennines. 2. Figuratively, opposition; collision; contradiction, as between differing or conflicting interests, views, purposes, etc. The clashes between popes and kings. Denham , Progre of Learning. IMG:content-0533.png:[blocks in formation] Howell , Letters, I. iv. 20. There is high clashing again betwixt my Lord Duke and the Earl of Bristol; they recriminate one another of divers Things. clashingly (klash'ing-li), adv . With clashing. clasp (klasp), v . [ claspen , rarely clospen , also clapsen (cf. LG. umklaspern ), grasp firmly, prob. extended from clap1 , strike suddenly; but cf. clamp1 and clip1 , embrace.] embrace.] I. trans. 1. To catch and hold by twining or embracing; surround and cling to, as a vine to a tree; embrace closely; inclose or encompa , as with the arms, hands, or fingers; grasp. Then creeping, clasp'd the hero's knees and prayed. Dryden, Eneid, x. He seeks to clasp His daughter's cold, damp hand in his. Whittier, Mogg Megone, i. 2. To shut or fasten together with or as with a clasp. His botes clapsed [var. clapsud, etc., clasped , clospede ] fayre and fetisly. Chaucer , Gen. Prol. to C. Т., 1. 273. Sermons are the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and do open the Scriptures, which being but read, remain in com- parison still clasped . Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 22. II. in trans. To cling. [Rare.] My father, clasping to the mast, endur'd a sea That almost burst the deck. Shak . , Pericles, iv. 1. cla 2. In a narrower sense, a large knife with onė blade which folds into the handle and may be locked when open by a catch on the back. clasp-lock (klasp'lok), n. A lock which is closed or secured by means of a spring; specifically, a device for locking together the covers of a book or an album.