grab
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word grab. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word grab, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say grab in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word grab you have here. The definition of the word grab will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofgrab, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
grab grab
See also: Grab
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch grabben (“to grab”) or Middle Low German grabben (“to snap”), from Old Dutch or Old Saxon gravan, from Proto-West Germanic *graban, from Proto-Germanic *grab-, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ-.
See also Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇā́ti), गृभ्णाति (gṛbhṇā́ti, “he seizes”), Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬡 (garəβ, “to seize”)). Cognate with Danish grabbe (“to grab”), Swedish grabba (“to grab”), Old English ġegræppian (“to seize”), Middle English grappen (“to feel with the hands; grope”), Macedonian грабне (grabne, “to snatch”), Bulgarian грабя (grabja, “to rob, to grab”).
Verb
grab (third-person singular simple present grabs, present participle grabbing, simple past and past participle grabbed)
- (transitive) To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
- 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
- Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.
- I grabbed her hand to pull her back from the cliff edge.
- (intransitive) To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
- The suspect suddenly broke free and grabbed at the policeman's gun.
- To restrain someone; to arrest.
- (transitive) To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.
- How does that idea grab you?
- 1992, “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite”, in Automatic for the People, performed by R.E.M.:
- Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me
Today I need something more substantial
- (informal) To quickly collect, retrieve, or take.
- Come in and grab a seat [i.e. sit down].
- 1987, James Grady, Just a Shot Away, Bantam, page 117:
- "I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.
- 1999, Jillian Dagg, Racing Hearts, Thomas Bouregy & Co., page 105:
- Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse."
- 2009, Mike Taylor, A Thousand Sleeps,, Tate Publishing, page 216:
- He looked at Albert and Ben, and then back to Nurse Allen. "I'll just grab my gear and be right back."
- (informal) To consume something quickly.
- We'll just grab a sandwich and then we'll be on our way.
- Is there time to grab a coffee?
- To take the opportunity of.
- 2012 May 19, Paul Fletcher, “Blackpool 1-2 West Ham”, in BBC Sport:
- Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the London side who did grab what proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards.
Translations
to seize
|
to make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something)
|
to restrain someone; to arrest
|
to grip the attention; to enthrall
|
Noun
grab (countable and uncountable, plural grabs)
- (countable) A sudden snatch at something.
- 1931 April, Harold M. Sherman, “The Baseball Clown”, in Boys' Life, volume 21, number 4, Boy Scouts of America, page 47:
- The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.
- 2003, J Davey, Six Years of Darkness, Trafford Publishing, page 66:
- He made a grab for me and I swung my handbag at him as hard as I could.
- (countable) An acquisition by violent or unjust means.
- (countable) A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
- 1945 January and February, T. F. Cameron, “Dock Working”, in Railway Magazine, page 11:
- Almost all modern cranes are electrically operated and a quick-acting type of 30 cwt. capacity is suitable for general cargo, but not powerful enough to operate grabs for discharge of bulk cargoes.
- A device for withdrawing drills, etc., from artesian and other wells that are drilled, bored, or driven.
- (countable, media) A sound bite.
- 2008, Melissa Agnew, Here is the (Australian) News:
- For example, one radio bulletin may feature one central issue, like a state election, and will focus on that issue. The bulletin might contain only a few voice wraps but many grabs, leaving the focus firmly on the newsreader.
- (obsolete) That which is seized.
- (uncountable) A simple card game.
Synonyms
Translations
the act of grabbing something or someone
|
a mechanical device that grabs
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Derived terms
Terms derived from grab (all parts of speech)
- attention-grabbing
- bash and grab
- cash grab
- double grab
- grab and go, grab-and-go
- grab and run
- grab-ass
- grab ass
- grab at
- grab at a straw
- grab at straws
- grabbable
- grab-bag
- grab bag
- grab bar
- grabble
- grab box
- grab bucket
- grab by the horns
- grab by the lapels
- grab by the short hairs
- grab game
- grab hag
- grab handle
- grab hoe
- grab hold
- grab iron
- grab off
- grab one's ankles
- grab rail, grabrail
- grab sample
- grab some air
- grab some pine
- grab some z's
- grab some Zs
- grab some Z's
- grab the bull by the horns
- grab the headlines
- grab the popcorn
- land grab
- money-grabbing
- power grab
- smash and grab, smash-and-grab
- snatch and grab
- take a grab
- ungrab
- up for grabs
- wreck grab
Etymology 2
Arabic غُرَاب (ḡurāb) and Hindi ghurb?: crow, raven, a kind of Arab ship. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.
Noun
grab (plural grabs)
Alternative forms
Further reading
- Henry Yule, A[rthur] C[oke] Burnell (1903) “GRAB”, in William Crooke, editor, Hobson-Jobson , London: John Murray, , page 391.
Anagrams
Lower Sorbian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *grabrъ.
Pronunciation
Noun
grab m inan
Declension
Declension of grab
Further reading
- Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “grab”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
- Starosta, Manfred (1999) “grab”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
Old High German
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *grab, from Proto-Germanic *grabą, *grabō (“grave, trench, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”).
Compare Old Saxon graf (Low German Graf, Graff), Dutch graf, Old English græf (English grave), Old Frisian gref (West Frisian grêf), Old Norse grǫf (Danish grav, Icelandic gröf), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌰𐌱𐌰 (graba).
Noun
grab n
Descendants
- Middle High German: grap
Polish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *grabrъ.
Noun
grab m inan (related adjective grabowy)
Declension
Declension of grab
Derived terms
nouns
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun
grab f
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
grab
Further reading
- grab in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- grab in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *grabrъ, from Proto-Indo-European *grābʰ-.
Noun
grab m (Cyrillic spelling граб)