different between latch vs clamp

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: l?ch, IPA^(key): /læt?/
• Rhymes: -æt?

Etymology 1

From Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læ??an (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjan?, *lakwijan?, *lakkijan? (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh?g-, *(s)leh?g?- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
2. (transitive) To catch; lay hold of.

Derived terms

• latch on
• latch on to
• latch onto

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English latche, lacche (“a latch; a trap”), from lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”), from Old English læ??an (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”). See above for more.

Noun

latch (plural latches)

1. A fastening for a door that has a bar that fits into a notch or slot, and is lifted by a lever or string from either side.
   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 4

     The cleverly constructed latch which Clayton had made for the door had sprung as Kerchak passed out; nor could the apes find means of ingress through the heavily barred windows.

2. A flip-flop electronic circuit
3. (obsolete) A latching.
4. (obsolete) A crossbow.
5. (obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of The Romaunt of the Rose to this entry?)

6. A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
7. (databases) A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.

Derived terms

• on the latch

Translations

Alternative forms

• lech, letch

Etymology 3

Compare French lécher (“to lick”).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

1. (obsolete) To smear; to anoint.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klæmp/
• Rhymes: -æmp

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch clamp, klampe (“a clamp, hook”), from Proto-Germanic *klamp? (“clamp, clasp, cramp”). Cognate with Middle Low German klampe (“hook, clasp”), German Klampfe, Klampe (“clamp, cleat”), Norwegian klamp (“clamp”), Alemannic German Chlempi.

Noun

clamp (plural clamps)

1. A brace, band, or clasp for strengthening or holding things together.
2. (medicine) An instrument used to temporarily shut off blood vessels, etc.
3. (Britain) A parking enforcement device used to immobilise a car until it can be towed or a fine is paid; a wheel clamp.
4. A mass of bricks heaped up to be burned; or of ore for roasting, or of coal coking.
5. A pile of agricultural produce such as root vegetables or silage stored under a layer of earth or an airtight sheet.
6. A piece of wood (batten) across the grain of a board end to keep it flat, as in a breadboard.
7. (electronics) An electronic circuit that fixes either the positive or the negative peak excursions of a signal to a defined value by shifting its DC value.

Derived terms

• clover clamp
• nipple clamp
• sliding clamp

Translations

References

Storage clamp on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Clamper (electronics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

clamp (third-person singular simple present clamps, present participle clamping, simple past and past participle clamped)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To fasten in place or together with (or as if with) a clamp.
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 21

     As we burst into the room, the Count turned his face, and the hellish look that I had heard described seemed to leap into it. His eyes flamed red with devilish passion. The great nostrils of the white aquiline nose opened wide and quivered at the edge, and the white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood dripping mouth, clamped together like those of a wild beast.

2. (transitive) To hold or grip tightly.
3. (transitive) To modify (a numeric value) so it lies within a specific range.
   • 2016, Jason Zink, Matt Pettineo, Jack Hoxley, Practical Rendering and Computation with Direct3D 11 (page 253)

     After the depth range is clamped, the depth value is read from the depth stencil buffer, and the two values are compared with a selectable depth-comparison function […]

4. (Britain, obsolete, transitive) To cover (vegetables, etc.) with earth.

Derived terms

• clamp down
• unclamp

Translations

See also

• clasp
• vise, vice

Etymology 2

Imitative.

Noun

clamp (plural clamps)

1. (dated) A heavy footstep; a tramp.

Verb

clamp (third-person singular simple present clamps, present participle clamping, simple past and past participle clamped)

1. (intransitive, dated) To tread heavily or clumsily; to clump or clomp.

   • the policeman with clamping feet