come to grips with

Idioms  

1. Confront squarely, deal decisively with, as in Her stories help the children come to grips with upsetting events. This term, sometimes put as get to grips with, employs grip in the sense of a “tight hold.” [Mid-1900s]

---

Example Sentences

Ultimately, it shows us something that we as a nation had better come to grips with sooner rather than later.

From Salon • Feb. 27, 2026

U.S. companies and the federal government, meanwhile, haven’t yet come to grips with Americans’ longer lives, Stern says.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 12, 2025

So trust me when I say that I can’t quite come to grips with my new habit, one that I’m hugely embarrassed to be admitting in public.

From Slate • Apr. 25, 2025

Previously unseen bodycam footage taken after the collapse shows first responders and officials struggling to come to grips with the enormity of what they faced in the confusing hours after the crash.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2024

Certainly Maurice should have the first chance to come to grips with the problem.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson