clutching
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Clutch \Clutch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clutched (kl[u^]cht); p. pr. & vb. n. Clutching.] [OE. clucchen. See Clutch, n.]
1.To seize, clasp, or grip with the hand, hands, or claws; -- often figuratively; as, to clutch power. [1913 Webster]
A man may set the poles together in his head, and clutch the whole globe at one intellectual grasp.— Collier.[1913 Webster]
Is this a dagger which I see before me . . . ? Come, let me clutch thee.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
2.To close tightly; to clinch. [1913 Webster]
Not that I have the power to clutch my hand.— Shak.[1913 Webster]