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grasp
[ grasp, grahsp ]
verb (used with object)
- to seize and hold by or as if by clasping with the fingers or arms.
Antonyms: release
- to seize upon; hold firmly.
- to get hold of mentally; comprehend; understand:
I don't grasp your meaning.
verb (used without object)
- to make an attempt to seize, or a motion of seizing, something (usually followed by at or for ):
a drowning man grasping at straws; to grasp for an enemy's rifle.
noun
- the act of grasping or gripping, as with the hands or arms:
to make a grasp at something.
- a hold or grip:
to have a firm grasp of a rope.
- one's arms or hands, in embracing or gripping:
He took her in his grasp.
- one's power of seizing and holding; reach:
to have a thing within one's grasp.
- hold, possession, or mastery:
to wrest power from the grasp of a usurper.
Synonyms: clutches
- mental hold or capacity; power to understand.
Synonyms: comprehension, apprehension, understanding
- broad or thorough comprehension:
a good grasp of computer programming.
grasp
/ ɡrɑːsp /
verb
- to grip (something) firmly with or as if with the hands
- whenintr, often foll by at to struggle, snatch, or grope (for)
- tr to understand, esp with effort
noun
- the act of grasping
- a grip or clasp, as of a hand
- the capacity to accomplish (esp in the phrase within one's grasp )
- total rule or possession
- understanding; comprehension
Derived Forms
- ˈgrasper, noun
- ˈgraspable, adjective
Other Words From
- graspa·ble adjective
- grasper noun
- graspless adjective
- re·grasp verb (used with object)
- un·graspa·ble adjective
- un·grasped adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of grasp1
Idioms and Phrases
In addition to the idiom beginning with grasp , also see get a fix on (grasp of) .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
England already had this match in their grasp on Sunday, when they resumed on 378-5 in their second innings and a lead of 533.
In a rather comical fashion, the characters would also explain plots and technologies used to solve crimes through their dialogues, making it easy for even children to grasp what was happening.
It raises a provocative question: Why do people find it so difficult to psychologically grasp the reality of human-caused climate change?
The opportunity is huge, if Democrats choose to grasp it.
Somehow, that simple notion was hard to grasp.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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