# cling

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈklɪŋ/ · frequency rank #15,130

## Definitions
1. Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.
2. Adherence; attachment; devotion.
3. An ornament that clings to a window so as to be seen from outside.

## Etymology
From Middle English clingen, from Old English clingan (“to adhere”), from Proto-West Germanic *klingan, from Proto-Germanic *klinganą. Cognate with Danish klynge (“to cluster, to crowd”). Compare clump.

## Easily confused with
- **clip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clip)
- **coin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-coin)
- **Cong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-cong)
- **clit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clit)
- **clog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clog)
- **Clio** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clio)
- **coins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-coins)
- **Colin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-colin)
- **clips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clips)
- **clone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clone)
- **Clive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clive)
- **Clint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clint)
- **clung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clung)
- **clink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clink)
- **coming** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-coming)
- **crying** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-crying)
- **clinic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-clinic)
- **coding** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-coding)
- **coping** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-coping)
- **cringe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cling-vs-cringe)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ccling`, `cilng`, `clign`, `clingg`, `clinng`, `clling`, `clnig`, `lcing`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cling