buttock-clenching en · ADJ
Meanings
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(informal) Suspenseful, frightening; causing anxiety.
At the end of a buttock-clenching trip, we landed to find Eritrean helicopters crouched on the tarmac of an airport that had just been bombed by Ethiopian jets.
2012, Michela Wrong, I Didn’t Do It For You, page 19:I would zoom through the uphill left-hander at Coppice at a buttock-clenching 90mph (145km/h) in fourth, but on the climb up to Charlies the revs would fall away and third was needed just to maintain speed up the hill.
2019, John Aston, Driven:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most buttock-clenching | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more buttock-clenching | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Synonyms
dismayful · horrific · scary · awful · frightensome · terrifying · frightening · hair-raising · grisly · buggish · horrible · affreux · hair-curling · frightful · shocking · eldritch · scaring · buttock-clenching · butt-clenching · fearful · skin-crawling · pulse-pounding · formidable · terrible · terrorsome · ghostly · horrifying · dreadful · appalling · butt-clenching · alarming · flesh-crawling · flaysome · freaky · spine-tingling · horripilating · horrid · ghastly