clammy
adj/ˈklæmi/
Etymology From Middle English clam (“viscous, sticky; slimy”) + -y, from Old English clǣman (“to smear, bedaub”). Compare German klamm (“clammy”) and klemmen (“to be stuck, stick”). See also clam.
1
Cold and damp, usually referring to hands or palms.
- His hands were clammy from fright.
- The cause is a temperate conglutination ; for both bodies are clammy and viscous , and do bridle the deflux of humours to the hurts , without penning them in too much1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “VII. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
2 more examples
- Then he could see the modest bookseller, somewhat clammy in his extremities and lost within his academic robe and hood, nervously fidgeting his mortar-board, haled forward by ushers, and tottering rubescent before the chancellor, provost, president (or whoever it might be) who hands out the diploma.1919, Christopher Morley, “Again the Narrative is Retarded”, in The Haunted Bookshop, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 171:
- Jenny Lee reached out and took hold of the man’s hand. It was cold and clammy, a deadlike feeling.2010 December 23, Sharon Orsack, “Chapter One”, in Bobby & Me: A Novel, Tate Publishing & Enterprises, →ISBN, page 9:
2
Medicine, Sciences The quality of normal skin signs, epidermis that is neither diaphoretic nor dry.
- Derived terms
- clammily, clamminess, clammy goosefoot, clammyweed, unclammy