- stick
- stick 1 Stick, adhere, cohere, cling, cleave can mean to be or become closely, firmly, or indissolubly attached.Stick implies attachment by affixing; one thing or a person sticks to another, or things or persons stick together when they are literally or figuratively glued together and can be separated only by tearing or forcing apart{
the stamp sticks to the envelope
}{by sticking together they gained their objective
}{marriage . . . was nothing more than a token that a couple intended to stick to each other— F. M. Ford
}{whether . . . there will be anyone so beyond suspicion that no slander can stick to him— Davis
}{I'm the celestial drudge . . . and I stick to my work till I drop at it— Gilbert
}When referred to things, adhere is interchangeable with stick{the mud adhered to their shoes
}It is narrower in idiomatic range than stick but is the usual term when the attachment results from growth of parts normally distinct or separate{abdominal tissues sometimes adhere after an operation
}When referred to persons, adhere usually implies deliberate or voluntary acceptance (as of the creed of a church, the platform of a political party, or the doctrines of a philosopher){he believes passionately that India will adhere to her traditional democracy if it can be made to work— Jerome Ellison
}{he liked a certain order in his life; when he had made a plan he liked to adhere to it— Sackville-West
}{the then current fashion, which royal ladies have adhered to ever since— Rose Macaulay
}Cohere takes for its subject a collective singular or a plural noun that names things that stick together to produce a mass, a body, or a unified whole{the dry ingredients of a cake cohere only when liquid is added
}{did not the whole composition cohere, were its unity broken, it would not be one picture or one quartet— Edman
}{passing his hand over his cool forehead, he closed his eyes. The sounds cohered as in delirium— Stafford
}But occasionally when the notion of producing a unified whole is to be stressed cohere may replace stick or adhere{the necessity that he shall conform, that he shall cohere—T. S. Eliot
}{with weariness, anger, and disappointment I passed out and fell with my heavy musket... to the floor. Arms and the man did not cohere— Lovett
}Cling usually implies attachment by hanging on (as by the arms, by roots, or by tendrils) and may suggest, often strongly, a need of support in one that clings{cling to a capsized boat
}{the vine clings to the wall
}{man whose breeches clung to his bony legs as if he'd been wading waist-high in a river— Kenneth Roberts
}In its extended use cling may add to the suggestion of need of support one of dependence{she clung to her father and mother even after her marriage
}but at other times it suggests tenacity in holding on to something possessed, believed, or used{clung to the superstitions of his childhood
}{clung stubbornly to their hopes of being saved at the last minute by a miracle— Shirer
}Cleave implies closeness and strength of attachment; when applied to persons, it commonly suggests depth of devotion and fidelity in affection{my tongue cleave to my roof within my mouth, unless a pardon ere I rise or speak— Shak.
}{he remains ... for more essential reasons than mere responsibility. Even if there were no children, he would probably cleave to her— Mailer
}2 stickle, balk, shy, boggle, *demur, scruple, jib, strain
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
