grasp

[ grasp, grahsp ]
See synonyms for: graspgraspedgraspinggraspable on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to seize and hold by or as if by clasping with the fingers or arms.

  2. to seize upon; hold firmly.

  1. to get hold of mentally; comprehend; understand: I don't grasp your meaning.

verb (used without object)
  1. to make an attempt to seize, or a motion of seizing, something (usually followed by at or for): a drowning man grasping at straws; to grasp for an enemy's rifle.

noun
  1. the act of grasping or gripping, as with the hands or arms: to make a grasp at something.

  2. a hold or grip: to have a firm grasp of a rope.

  1. one's arms or hands, in embracing or gripping: He took her in his grasp.

  2. one's power of seizing and holding; reach: to have a thing within one's grasp.

  3. hold, possession, or mastery: to wrest power from the grasp of a usurper.

  4. mental hold or capacity; power to understand.

  5. broad or thorough comprehension: a good grasp of computer programming.

Origin of grasp

1
First recorded in1350–1400; Middle English graspen, grapsen; cognate with Low German grapsen; akin to Old English gegræppian “to seize” (see grapple)

synonym study For grasp

1. See catch. 10. Grasp, reach refer to the power of seizing, either concretely or figuratively. Grasp suggests actually seizing and closing the hand upon something (or, figuratively, thoroughly comprehending something) and therefore refers to what is within one's possession or immediate possibility of possession: a good grasp of a problem; immense mental grasp. Reach suggests a stretching out of (usually) the hand to touch, strike, or, if possible, seize something; it therefore refers to a potentiality of possession that requires an effort. Figuratively, it implies perhaps a faint conception of something still too far beyond one to be definitely and clearly understood.

Other words for grasp

Opposites for grasp

Other words from grasp

  • grasp·a·ble, adjective
  • grasper, noun
  • graspless, adjective
  • re·grasp, verb (used with object)
  • un·grasp·a·ble, adjective
  • un·grasped, adjective

Words Nearby grasp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use grasp in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for grasp

grasp

/ (ɡrɑːsp) /


verb
  1. to grip (something) firmly with or as if with the hands

  2. (when intr, often foll by at) to struggle, snatch, or grope (for)

  1. (tr) to understand, esp with effort

noun
  1. the act of grasping

  2. a grip or clasp, as of a hand

  1. the capacity to accomplish (esp in the phrase within one's grasp)

  2. total rule or possession

  3. understanding; comprehension

Origin of grasp

1
C14: from Low German grapsen; related to Old English græppian to seize, Old Norse grāpa to steal

Derived forms of grasp

  • graspable, adjective
  • grasper, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with grasp

grasp

In addition to the idiom beginning with grasp

  • grasp at straws

also see:

  • get a fix on (grasp of)

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.