vicelike
6.1
Holding something very tightly so it cannot move
- adjective
- /ˈvaɪsˌlaɪk/
- UK
:
de agarre fuerte
- He had been effectively dead to me for about 9 years, as Huntingdon's gradually exerted its vicelike grip on him and squeezed out his personality and his life.
Examples
-
The old vice had a vicelike grip, ensuring the wood did not budge while I worked on it.
-
As the storm approached, the winds created a vicelike hold on the trees, making them sway but not break.
-
The climber's hands found a vicelike grip on the rocky surface, preventing him from slipping.
Synonyms
1
6.5
So tight that it does not let something move, like a strong grip
focuses on actively holding or gripping tightly rather than general firmness
Antonyms
How Tight
Surface Forms
vicelike positive
Morphology
vicelike = vice (transparent) = vice + like
Formed by the productive suffix '-like' on the noun 'vice' (meaning a clamp), so knowing that noun yields the meaning 'resembling or functioning like a vise'.
Etymology
Vicelike can also come from the tool vise, a strong metal clamp that 'holds something very tightly'. So vicelike describes a grip or hold that is very tight and hard to escape.