grasp
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word grasp. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word grasp, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say grasp in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word grasp you have here. The definition of the word grasp will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofgrasp, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: GRASP
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English graspen, grapsen, craspen (“to grope; feel around”), from Old English *grǣpsian, from Proto-West Germanic *graipisōn, from Proto-Germanic *graipisōną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to take, seize, rake”), the same ultimate source as grab.
Cognate with German Low German grapsen (“to grab; grasp”), German grapsen and grapschen, Saterland Frisian Grapse (“double handful”), Old English grāpian ("to touch, feel, grasp"; > Modern English grope). Compare also Swedish krafsa (“to scatch; scabble”), Norwegian krafse (“to scramble”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɡɹɑːsp/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɡɹæsp/
- (AAVE) IPA(key): /ɡɹæps/
audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æsp
Verb
grasp (third-person singular simple present grasps, present participle grasping, simple past and past participle grasped)
- To grip; to take hold, particularly with the hand.
- To understand.
- I have never been able to grasp the concept of infinity.
- To take advantage of something, to seize, to jump at a chance.
Synonyms
- (grip): clasp, grip, hold tight; See also Thesaurus:grasp
- (understand): comprehend, fathom
- (take advantage): jump at the chance, jump on
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to grip
|
to understand
|
to take advantage of a situation or of something
Noun
grasp (plural grasps)
- (sometimes figurative) Grip.
- 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter III, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC:
- Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
- 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 44:
- If a mirror does slip from your grasp, do not attempt to catch it. Just get out of the way.
- Understanding.
- 1859, George Meredith, chapter 13, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:
- There is for the mind but one grasp of happiness: from that uppermost pinnacle of wisdom, whence we see that this world is well designed.
- That which is accessible; that which is within one's reach or ability.
- The goal is within my grasp.
Derived terms
Translations
grip
|
understanding
|
that which is accessible