grapple
[grap-uhl]
- to hold or make fast to something, as with a grapple.
- to use a grapple.
- to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling; clinch.
- to engage in a struggle or close encounter (usually followed by with): He was grappling with a boy twice his size.
- to try to overcome or deal (usually followed by with): to grapple with a problem.
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- to seize, hold, or fasten with or as with a grapple.
- to seize in a grip, take hold of: The thug grappled him around the neck.
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- a hook or an iron instrument by which one thing, as a ship, fastens onto another; grapnel.
- a seizing or gripping.
- a grip or close hold in wrestling or hand-to-hand fighting.
- a close, hand-to-hand fight.
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Origin of grapple
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
contendconfrontcopecatchencounterscufflenailhookbattleclosenabtussleclashfightattacktakegriphugcombatsnatchExamples from the Web for grapple
Contemporary Examples
The White House, however, does not grapple with the essentiality of good ground forces now.
In Ferguson and many towns like it, majority African-American communities most grapple with mostly white county governments.
I believe that there are evil acts, and I grapple with the idea of whether you can call people evil.
For the fourth year running, the ICA has had to grapple with the complexities of coordinating a group show.
Instead it was to force him, and us, to grapple with the bigger question at the heart of the series.
'Breaking Bad's' Series Finale Cements Its Status As One of the All-Time GreatsAndrew Romano
September 30, 2013
Historical Examples
What courage was requisite to grapple with this giant difficulty!
He was much smaller than the other, but he knew that he was far and away stronger after that grapple.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
To-night we grapple for the heavy cable, eight tons to the mile.
Heroes of the TelegraphJ. Munro
There must be a power which can go behind these and grapple with causes.
The Railroad QuestionWilliam Larrabee
Something that he could not repel since it had no substance he could grapple with.
The Sea-HawkRaphael Sabatini
grapple
- to come to grips with (one or more persons), esp to struggle in hand-to-hand combat
- (intr foll by with) to cope or contendto grapple with a financial problem
- (tr) to secure with a grapple
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- any form of hook or metal instrument by which something is secured, such as a grapnel
- the act of gripping or seizing, as in wrestling
- a grip or hold
- a contest of grappling, esp a wrestling match
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Word Origin
C16: from Old French grappelle a little hook, from grape hook; see grapnel
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
Word Origin and History for grapple
n.
late 13c., from Old French grapil "hook" (see grapnel). The verb is 1520s, "seize and hold fast," from the noun. Sense of "battle, struggle (with)" is from 1590s. Related: Grappled; grappling.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper