grapple

American  

[grap-uhl] / ˈgræp əl /

verb (used without object)

grapples, present (3rd person singular) grappled, past participle, past grappling present participle

1. to hold or make fast to something, as with a grapple.

2. to use a grapple.

3. to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling; clinch.

4. to engage in a struggle or close encounter (usually followed bywith ).

   He was grappling with a boy twice his size.

5. to try to overcome or deal (usually followed bywith ).

   to grapple with a problem.

   Synonyms:

   tussle, cope, wrestle, contend, struggle

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verb (used with object)

grapples, present (3rd person singular) grappled, past participle, past grappling present participle

1. to seize, hold, or fasten with or as with a grapple.

2. to seize in a grip, take hold of.

   The thug grappled him around the neck.

noun

1. a hook or an iron instrument by which one thing, as a ship, fastens onto another; grapnel.

2. a seizing or gripping.

3. a grip or close hold in wrestling or hand-to-hand fighting.

4. a close, hand-to-hand fight.

grapple British  

/ ˈɡræpəl /

verb

1. to come to grips with (one or more persons), esp to struggle in hand-to-hand combat

2. to cope or contend

   to grapple with a financial problem

3. (tr) to secure with a grapple

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noun

1. any form of hook or metal instrument by which something is secured, such as a grapnel

2. 1. the act of gripping or seizing, as in wrestling

   2. a grip or hold

3. a contest of grappling, esp a wrestling match

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ungrappled
  adjective
• intergrapple
  verb
• grappler
  noun

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have grappled
  perfect
• has grappled
  perfect 3rd person singular
• has been grappling
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• have been grappling
  perfect progressive
• are grappling
  progressive
• grapples
  singular 3rd person
• is grappling
  progressive 3rd person singular
• grappling
  participle
• am grappling
  progressive 1st person singular

Past

• had grappled
  perfect
• were grappling
  progressive plural
• had been grappling
  perfect progressive
• grappled
  participle
• was grappling
  progressive singular
• grappled
  simple

Future

• will grapple
  simple
• will have grappled
  perfect
• will have been grappling
  perfect progressive
• will be grappling
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of grapple

1520–30; apparently a frequentative of Old English gegrǣppian to seize; associated with grapnel

Explanation

When you wrestle with something — literally or figuratively — you grapple with it, or try to overcome it. If you trace the word grapple back to its French roots, you’ll discover that the word originally referred to "a grape hook," a pronged tool used to harvest grapes. If you think about how awkward it would be to harvest grapes, with the individual grapes ready to scatter everywhere, it makes sense that grapple eventually evolved to include a verb form used to describe struggling with something unruly. You might grapple with a budget shortfall, grapple for answers, grapple with a wrestling opponent, or grapple with a new technology.

Example Sentences

On Saturday at Grapple at the Brook, a 15-team meet held at Springbrook High in Silver Spring, a new group found itself out in front of the bunch from the Old Line State.

From Washington Post • Jan. 17, 2023

And HMS Cavalier, which is at Chatham's Historic Dockyard, was present at Operation Grapple, which took place on Christmas Island.

From BBC • Oct. 3, 2022

Appeared in the February 28, 2018, print edition as 'Justices Grapple With Microsoft Case.'

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2018

Grapple no more Twitter team: Embedle does this easily around every web page on the Internet.

From Forbes • Nov. 18, 2014

Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade.

From Public Speaking by Winter, Irvah Lester

Related Words

• confront
• contend
• cope