grabble
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to feel or search with the hands; grope.
-
to sprawl; scramble.
verb
-
(intr) to scratch or feel about with the hands
-
(intr) to fall to the ground; sprawl
-
(tr) to seize rashly
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of grabble
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
You could ache for the cozy city of the past in “The Royal Tenenbaums” or grabble with the schism of everything suddenly feeling different in “Mulholland Drive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
It’s that we want—and need—the ability to grabble with nuance and ambiguity that are inherent when our bodies and minds fail.
From Slate ● Apr. 9, 2018
A few hollow groans from the wardrobe, he thought, would be more than sufficient, or, if that failed to wake her, he might grabble at the counterpane with palsy-twitching fingers.
From Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde
Often raccoons, foxes, and squirrels grabble them up.
From The Peanut Plant Its Cultivation And Uses by B. W. Jones
And there's few of the police would like to grabble with them.
From Poets and Dreamers Studies and translations from the Irish by Lady Gregory
“Rebel Yell” starts up from the sound system and, as if on cue, my son lets out a grabbled “a-woooh!”
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2015
Suddenly, the Fleshlumpeater shot out two enormous hands and grabbled the BFG around the waist.
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
Jim stopp'd an' grabbled up a clot, An' zent en at en lik' a shot; An' down went Daw an' cage avore The clot, up thump ageän the door.
From Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect by William Barnes
"Oh! you see, I grabbled that in the scuffle, and slipped it into my pocket."
From The Kentuckian in New-York, Volume I (of 2) or, The Adventures of Three Southerns by William Alexander Caruthers
Some of them cleft the rocks with great axes; others grabbled in the sand.
From A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde
Other departments in California are grabbling with similar incidents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2020
‘We will swear to do what he wants, yes, yess,’ said Gollum, still twisting and grabbling at his ankle.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
And then, as if a signal has gone off that only the childrens can hear, all of their hands are reaching and grabbling and snatching.
From "The Unfinished Angel" by Sharon Creech
The furies of rage and rancour were grabbling at her heart, even as the leopard had scrabbled on her face.
From Blue Aloes Stories of South Africa by Cynthia Stockley
I heard Collins grabbling for it, somewhere in the dark of the tunnel.
From The La Chance Mine Mystery by George W. Gage
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
