grapple

[ grap-uhl ]

/ ˈgræp əl /

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, grappling, grappling iron

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.

Related forms

grap·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 grappled

Moses lost her job, and then her home, as she grappled with pain and illness after her spinal surgery.
Patients Screwed in Spine Surgery ‘Scam’|The Center for Investigative Reporting|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With Lindsay Lohan, we were watching the horror show of self-sabotage, and grappled with our role in feeding into it.
Amanda Bynes Has a ‘Microchip’ in Her Brain. Why Are We Fascinated By This?|Kevin Fallon|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Three years ago, as Texas grappled with its driest year on record, Governor Rick Perry declared a weekend of prayer for rain.
America’s Axis of Drought|Kate Galbraith|March 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Instead, Obama sometimes seemed to forget the word altogether as he grappled with the forces of nope.
Ted Kennedy, Bin Laden & Gay Marriage: How Obama Got His Audacity Back|Michael Daly|May 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST

As easily as they could have played the scene for tears, they grappled for a better way, before Dunst had a revelation.
Kirsten Dunst Gets Serious|Richard Rushfield|January 2, 2011|DAILY BEAST
He received the blow on his arm, grappled with the assassin, and throwing him on the ground despatched him with his own dagger.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
I was tormented with extreme thirst, and grappled at the water-jug which stood near me.
The Devil's Elixir|E. T. A. Hoffmann
He made, it would seem, few new friends, though he grappled his old ones as 'with hooks of steel.'
Hours in a Library|Leslie Stephen
It was that of the man whom he had grappled, and who had been struck down with the knife that he had expected to strike himself.
A Mating in the Wilds|Ottwell Binns
Time enough to go overboard when we have grappled the enemy.
The Boy who sailed with Blake|W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for grappled

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 Forms

grappler, 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