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Showing results for "grasping"
  • present participle of grasp.
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Synonyms

grasping

American  
[gras-ping, grahs-] / ˈgræs pɪŋ, ˈgrɑs- /

adjective

  1. greedy; avaricious.

    a sly, grasping man.

    Synonyms:
    venal, acquisitive, selfish, covetous
  2. being used to grasp or tending to grasp; tenacious.


grasping British  
/ ˈɡrɑːspɪŋ /

adjective

  1. greedy; avaricious; rapacious

"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 Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of grasping

First recorded in 1540–50; grasp + -ing 2

Vocabulary lists containing grasping

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Or David Seaman grasping at thin air as Ronaldinho's free-kick found its way into the back of the net in the quarter-final loss to Brazil in 2002.

From BBC Jul. 13, 2026

Nor could Wilder in his greatest play: Life, he reminds us, is precious but evanescent, and all too often we move through it without grasping its value and its beauty.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 22, 2026

Much to my surprise, Radcliffe more than steps up as a down-and-out documentarian inserted into the life of a disgraced football star grasping for a comeback.

From Salon Jun. 20, 2026

Cynics argue this is deliberate obfuscation; impenetrable language keeps average investors from seeing the simplicity of the underlying concepts or grasping unfavorable conditions.

From Barron's Jun. 18, 2026

I was grasping for something to say, grasping to blame someone besides myself.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

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