grapple

American  

[grap-uhl] / ˈgræp əl /

verb (used without object)

grapples, present (3rd person singular) grappled, past participle, past grappling present participle

1. to hold or make fast to something, as with a grapple.

2. to use a grapple.

3. to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling; clinch.

4. to engage in a struggle or close encounter (usually followed bywith ).

   He was grappling with a boy twice his size.

5. to try to overcome or deal (usually followed bywith ).

   to grapple with a problem.

   Synonyms:

   tussle, cope, wrestle, contend, struggle

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verb (used with object)

grapples, present (3rd person singular) grappled, past participle, past grappling present participle

1. to seize, hold, or fasten with or as with a grapple.

2. to seize in a grip, take hold of.

   The thug grappled him around the neck.

noun

grapples plural

1. a hook or an iron instrument by which one thing, as a ship, fastens onto another; grapnel.

2. a seizing or gripping.

3. a grip or close hold in wrestling or hand-to-hand fighting.

4. a close, hand-to-hand fight.

grapple British  

/ ˈɡræpəl /

verb

1. to come to grips with (one or more persons), esp to struggle in hand-to-hand combat

2. to cope or contend

   to grapple with a financial problem

3. (tr) to secure with a grapple

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noun

1. any form of hook or metal instrument by which something is secured, such as a grapnel

2. 1. the act of gripping or seizing, as in wrestling

   2. a grip or hold

3. a contest of grappling, esp a wrestling match

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• grappler
  noun
• intergrapple
  verb
• ungrappled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• grapples
  plural

Participles

• grappling
  present
• grappled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• grapple
  simple
• grapples
  simple
• have grappled
  perfect
• has grappled
  perfect
• am grappling
  progressive
• are grappling
  progressive
• is grappling
  progressive
• have been grappling
  perfect progressive
• has been grappling
  perfect progressive

Past

• grappled
  simple
• had grappled
  perfect
• was grappling
  progressive
• were grappling
  progressive
• had been grappling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will grapple
  simple
• will have grappled
  perfect
• will be grappling
  progressive
• will have been grappling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of grapple

1520–30; apparently a frequentative of Old English gegrǣppian to seize; associated with grapnel

Explanation

When you wrestle with something — literally or figuratively — you grapple with it, or try to overcome it. If you trace the word grapple back to its French roots, you’ll discover that the word originally referred to "a grape hook," a pronged tool used to harvest grapes. If you think about how awkward it would be to harvest grapes, with the individual grapes ready to scatter everywhere, it makes sense that grapple eventually evolved to include a verb form used to describe struggling with something unruly. You might grapple with a budget shortfall, grapple for answers, grapple with a wrestling opponent, or grapple with a new technology.

Example Sentences

As much as Madonna might love making music, it never gets easier to grapple with the words inside her heart, let alone release them into the public.

From Salon • Jul. 8, 2026

A judge said the company should do more to give landowners proper notice and criticised its "failure to grapple" with the risk of spreading livestock diseases from farm to farm.

From BBC • Jul. 6, 2026

Both actors gently expose their characters’ dislocation and disorientation as they grapple with the void in their lives.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026

Is that something that you feel like you grapple with yourself?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026

By then it was clear that $700 billion was a sum insufficient to grapple with the troubled assets acquired over the previous few years by Wall Street bond traders.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• confront
• contend
• cope