From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcling to something (also cling on to something) phrasal verb1 BELIEVEto continue to believe or do something, even though it may not be true or useful any longercling to the hope/belief/idea etc (that) He clung to the hope that she would be cured.2 to stay in a position of power or stay ahead, when this is difficult, or to try to do this an attempt to cling to power → cling→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
cling to the hope/belief/idea etc (that)• At some level they still cling to the idea that tender loving care is the only factor in raising kids.• For the moment I cling to the idea that there are a relatively small number of cell-to-cell signals.• Reagan clung to the belief that he was not paying ransom but merely rewarding an intermediary for services rendered.• She had clung to the hope even for that length of time, but it had never happened.• They could, with one part of their mind, cling to the idea of teacher autonomy.• Ursula was clinging to the belief that Samantha would soon be released.• Will the West cling to the idea of universal worth while selfishly consuming Arab oil wealth and closing its borders to Arabs? 