Clutch is slang for coming through at the decisive moment, performing under pressure. It's praise for a last-second goal or a player who stays calm when the score is close. In everyday life: your charger came in clutch means it saved you right before the call. In writing: timely or crucial.
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a clutch player / performance; something was clutch; come in clutch
- That save was clutch; there were only a few seconds left.
- Your spare charger came in clutch when my battery died before the call.
- She's a clutch player who stays calm when the score is close.
What changed
First versionYour spare battery was a clutch when my phone died.
RevisionYour spare battery was clutch when my phone died.
Like a great help, it seems to need an article: was a clutch. But in this sense clutch is an adjective: was clutch. Use an article only when a noun follows: a clutch save.
Useful means helpful at any time. Clutch means helpful exactly when everything would have gone wrong without it. A clutch with no noun after it is a car pedal or a small handbag.
Your turn
The backup map helped exactly when the signal disappeared. It came ___ clutch.
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in — The fixed phrase is came in clutch: the map saved the day when the signal disappeared. On doesn't form this phrase.
Thank a friend for something they did or lent you that saved you at the right moment.
Your printed directions came in clutch when we lost reception in the hills.
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