Related Searches
Nearby Words
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.
3.
to get hold of mentally; comprehend; understand: I don't grasp your meaning.
verb (used without object)
4.
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.
:10
:09
:08
:07
:06
:05
:04
:03
:02
:01
Grasped
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
noun
5.
the act of grasping or gripping, as with the hands or arms: to make a grasp at something.
6.
a hold or grip: to have a firm grasp of a rope.
7.
one's arms or hands, in embracing or gripping: He took her in his grasp.
8.
one's power of seizing and holding; reach: to have a thing within one's grasp.
9.
EXPANDhold, possession, or mastery: to wrest power from the grasp of a usurper.
10.
mental hold or capacity; power to understand.
11.
COLLAPSEbroad or thorough comprehension: a good grasp of computer programming.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English graspen, grapsen; cognate with Low German grapsen; akin to Old English gegræppian to seize (see grapple)
1350–1400; Middle English graspen, grapsen; cognate with Low German grapsen; akin to Old English gegræppian to seize (see grapple)
Related forms
grasp·a·ble, adjective
grasp·er, noun
grasp·less, adjective
re·grasp, verb (used with object)
un·grasp·a·ble, adjective
EXPANDun·grasped, adjective
COLLAPSESynonyms
1. grip, clutch; grab. See catch. 9. clutches. 10. scope, comprehension. 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.
1. grip, clutch; grab. See catch. 9. clutches. 10. scope, comprehension. 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.
Antonyms
1. release.
1. release.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To grasped
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
grasp
1382, possibly metathesis of O.E. *græpsan "to touch, feel," from P.Gmc. *graipison (cf. E.Fris. grapsen "to grasp"), from root *graip (see grope). Originally "to reach for, feel around;" sense of "seize" first recorded mid-16c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.