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definitions

grappling

[grap-ling]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR grappling ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

grapnel.

Origin of grappling

First recorded in 1590–1600; grapple + -ing1
Related formsun·grap·pling, adjective

grapple

[grap-uhl]

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.

Origin of grapple

1520–30; apparently a frequentative of Old English gegrǣppian to seize; associated with grapnel
Related formsgrap·pler, nounin·ter·grap·ple, verb, in·ter·grap·pled, in·ter·grap·pling.un·grap·pled, adjective

Synonyms for grapple

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR grapple ON THESAURUS.COM
5. struggle, contend, wrestle, cope, tussle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for grappling

contend, confront, cope, catch, encounter, scuffle, nail, hook, battle, close, nab, tussle, clash, fight, attack, take, grip, hug, combat, snatch

Examples from the Web for grappling

Contemporary Examples of grappling

Historical Examples of grappling

  • You think of your wife, grappling with a kind of difficulty to which she is unaccustomed.

  • He paused again, grappling with this amazing revelation of self.

    The Fortune Hunter

    Louis Joseph Vance

  • Visibly an idea had visited him with which he was grappling.

    The Paliser case

    Edgar Saltus

  • “Grappling with life” and earnestly studying a profession then might have extinguished me.

    Memoirs

    Charles Godfrey Leland

  • Two lines were thrown, each with a grappling hook on the end.

British Dictionary definitions for grappling

grappling

noun

the act of gripping or seizing, as in wrestling
a hook used for securing something

grapple

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

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper