grapple

[ grap-uhl ]

/ ˈgræp əl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR grapple ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), grap·pled, grap·pling.

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.

verb (used with object), grap·pled, grap·pling.

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.

noun

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.

Nearby words

grapline, grapnel, grappa, grappelli, grappier cement, grapple, grapple ground, grapple plant, grapple shot, grappler, grappling

Origin of grapple

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

SYNONYMS FOR grapple

5 struggle, contend, wrestle, cope, tussle.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR grapple ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsgrap·pler, nounin·ter·grap·ple, verb, in·ter·grap·pled, in·ter·grap·pling.un·grap·pled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for grapple

I believe that there are evil acts, and I grapple with the idea of whether you can call people evil.
Ron Rosenbaum on Hitler, Hollywood, and Quantifying Evil|William O’Connor|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For the fourth year running, the ICA has had to grapple with the complexities of coordinating a group show.
These Young Artists Want You to Feel Something|Chloë Ashby|November 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
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 Greats|Andrew Romano|September 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
If “sentimental” is banned, then critics will forced to grapple with the emotion and explain themselves.
Boys Don’t Cry: In Praise of Sentiment|Andrew Sean Greer|June 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Any public health crusade which fails to grapple with this central fact is doomed to fail.
How Public Health Experts Turned Corporations into Public Enemy #1|Megan McArdle|March 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The work is a serious attempt to grapple with these great questions, and is as important on its ethical as on its artistic side.
An Introduction to the Study of Browning|Arthur Symons
The Dialogue allows these and related distinctions to emerge, even though it does not grapple with their implications.
A Dialogue upon the Gardens|William Gilpin
Strangers who have a large common ground of reading will, for this reason, come the sooner to the grapple of genuine converse.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume 9|Robert Louis Stevenson
Whether a prisoner could scale the walls with a cord and grapple, how he would descend upon the other side?
Little Dorrit|Charles Dickens
Something was wrong, everything was wrong, fate was against him, he could not grapple with the situation.
Pee-wee Harris on the Trail|Percy Keese Fitzhugh

British Dictionary definitions for grapple

grapple

/ (ˈɡræpəl) /

verb

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

noun

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

Derived Formsgrappler, noun

Word Origin for grapple

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

grapple

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.

grapple

verb (used without object), grap·pled, grap·pling.

verb (used with object), grap·pled, grap·pling.

noun

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Origin of grapple

Examples from the Web for grapple

British Dictionary definitions for grapple

grapple

verb

noun

Word Origin for grapple

Word Origin and History for grapple

grapple