grabble
Americanverb (used without object)
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to feel or search with the hands; grope.
-
to sprawl; scramble.
verb
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(intr) to scratch or feel about with the hands
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(intr) to fall to the ground; sprawl
-
(tr) to seize rashly
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of grabble
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:
It’s that we want—and need—the ability to grabble with nuance and ambiguity that are inherent when our bodies and minds fail.
From Slate ● Apr. 9, 2018
And there's few of the police would like to grabble with them.
From Poets and Dreamers Studies and translations from the Irish by Gregory, Lady
Then we grabble in de pot for more.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves South Carolina Narratives, Part 4 by Work Projects Administration
V. touch, feel, handle, finger, thumb, paw, fumble, grope, grabble; twiddle, tweedle; pass the fingers over, run the fingers over; manipulate, wield; throw out a feeler.
From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Roget, Peter Mark
Do you think you have a right to grabble my Prior Riparian Rights?
From The Discards by McWhorter, Lucullus Virgil
“Rebel Yell” starts up from the sound system and, as if on cue, my son lets out a grabbled “a-woooh!”
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2015
Suddenly, the Fleshlumpeater shot out two enormous hands and grabbled the BFG around the waist.
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
With white claws of foam the sea grabbled at the shore.
From A House of Pomegranates by Wilde, Oscar
Being blind made touch even more of an instrument of knowing something although all grabbled around in darkness.
From Tokyo to Tijuana: Gabriele Departing America by Sills, Steven (Steven David Justin)
Ed King and Jim Maxwell each had a sack of sweet potatoes, grabbled in a field a mile and a half away.
From A History of Lumsden's Battery, C.S.A. by Maxwell, James Robert
Other departments in California are grabbling with similar incidents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2020
‘We will swear to do what he wants, yes, yess,’ said Gollum, still twisting and grabbling at his ankle.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
And then, as if a signal has gone off that only the childrens can hear, all of their hands are reaching and grabbling and snatching.
From "The Unfinished Angel" by Sharon Creech
Chief among these nascent classes were the landowners of the cities, at first grabbling tradesmen and land speculators and finally rising to the crowning position of multimillionaires.
From History of the Great American Fortunes, Vol. I Conditions in Settlement and Colonial Times by Gustavus, Myers
The furies of rage and rancour were grabbling at her heart, even as the leopard had scrabbled on her face.
From Blue Aloes Stories of South Africa by Stockley, Cynthia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
