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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

come to grips with

They’re trying to come to grips with the new reality when they both fall into a sinkhole and wake up in Nakali.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

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

Meanwhile, in Utah, witnesses, law enforcement and state and local leaders continue to come to grips with the trauma of the day.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025

I hoped he’d come to grips with it fairly soon.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss