Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US campus) attractive, desirable; apposite.

1947		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 25 Oct. 21: My man, Jimmy Mordecai is still a clutch bet as a top emcee.
1993		Eble Campus Sl. Oct.
2005		A. Swartz ‘Sweet, Tight and Hella Stupid’ in S.F. University High School Update Mar.–Apr. 2: that’s clutch – that’s tight.
2012		C. Eble (ed.) UNC-CH Campus Sl. 2011 2: CLUTCH — happening at just the right time: ‘I was so hungry, and then I opened the fridge and found that pie. That was so clutch!’.
2012		M. Lacher On the Bro’d 30: [T]hey [i.e. flip-flops] were totally clutch shoes for the trip.

2. (US) under pressure.

1961

L. Schecter Roger Maris 134: After his 53d home run it was calculated that 27 of them came in ‘clutch situations’.

3. (US campus) performing or performed well under pressure.

1955		Piersall & Hirshberg Fear Strikes Out 151: He once won eight or ten ball games in less than three weeks with key hits, and [...] became known as Dutch the Clutch.
2011		Myers & Workman Kick 190: I was surprised at how quickly the game had gone and how clutch my kick had been.
2016		C. Eble UNC-CH Campus Sl. Spring 2016.