grip
Americannoun
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grips
plural
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the act of grasping; a seizing and holding fast; firm grasp.
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the power of gripping.
He has a strong grip.
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a grasp, hold, or control.
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mental or intellectual hold.
to have a good grip on a problem.
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competence or firmness in dealing with situations in one's work or personal affairs.
The boss is old and is losing his grip.
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a special mode of clasping hands.
Members of the club use the secret grip.
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something that seizes and holds, as a clutching device on a cable car.
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a handle or hilt.
That knife has a very unusual grip.
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a sudden, sharp pain; spasm of pain.
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Older Use. a small traveling bag.
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Theater. a stagehand, especially one who works on the stage floor.
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Movies, Television. a general assistant available on a film set for shifting scenery, moving furniture, etc.
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verb (used with object)
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grips,
present (3rd person singular)
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gripped,
past participle, past
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gript,
past participle, past (Archaic)
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gripping
present participle
verb (used without object)
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grips,
present (3rd person singular)
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gripped,
past participle, past
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gript,
past participle, past (Archaic)
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gripping
present participle
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to take firm hold; hold fast.
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to take hold on the mind.
idioms
noun
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the act or an instance of grasping and holding firmly
he lost his grip on the slope
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Also called: handgrip. the strength or pressure of such a grasp, as in a handshake
a feeble grip
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the style or manner of grasping an object, such as a tennis racket
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understanding, control, or mastery of a subject, problem, etc (esp in such phrases as get or have a grip on )
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Also called: handgrip. a part by which an object is grasped; handle
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Also called: handgrip. a travelling bag or holdall
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See hairgrip
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any device that holds by friction, such as certain types of brake
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a method of clasping or shaking hands used by members of secret societies to greet or identify one another
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a spasm of pain
a grip in one's stomach
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a worker in a camera crew or a stagehand who shifts sets and props, etc
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a small drainage channel cut above an excavation to conduct surface water away from the excavation
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(often foll by with)
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to deal with (a problem or subject)
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to tackle (an assailant)
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verb
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to take hold of firmly or tightly, as by a clutch
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to hold the interest or attention of
to grip an audience
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gripsimple
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gripssimple
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have grippedperfect
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have griptperfect
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has grippedperfect
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has griptperfect
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am grippingprogressive
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are grippingprogressive
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is grippingprogressive
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have been grippingperfect progressive
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has been grippingperfect progressive
Past
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grippedsimple
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griptsimple
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had grippedperfect
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had griptperfect
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was grippingprogressive
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were grippingprogressive
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had been grippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of grip
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English gripe “grasp” (noun); cognate with German Griff, Old English gripa “handful”; see gripe
Explanation
To grip something is to hold it firmly. You might grip the TV remote to keep your roommate from trying to change the channel. When you want to hold on to something, you grip it. If your hands are strong and you can hold things well, you have a good grip. Grip is also the roughness or texture of something. A steering wheel has good grip if your hands don't slip while driving. This word can be also be used figuratively. If you’re upset, your friend might tell you to “get a grip” — that is, get a hold of yourself.
Vocabulary lists containing grip
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:
"And then when you have conditions in which the car slides in the race, there's not much grip, then I think he is the master in these kind of conditions."
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Such a deal would loosen the Brown family’s grip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
R faecis and R intestinalis were not significantly associated with hand grip strength or VO2 max in either age group.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026
The Buss family’s grip on the NBA’s glamor franchise loosened in 2025 when they relinquished their majority share to Mark Walter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The ice river had them in its grip and it wasn’t letting go.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Only afterwards did he have a moment to come to grips with his life-changing performance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
He’s tinkered with different grips for his changeup, a pitch he started deploying more in mid-May.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
The country is in the grips of a humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by the slashing of foreign assistance and the need to integrate millions of Afghans pushed back from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
‘Hysteria’ grips San Francisco’s housing market as AI wealth pours in.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Such activities established a new confidence in the power of mathematics to come to grips with nature, and this chapter follows this process through to Galileo.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Leongatha, where Patterson lived, was gripped by shock.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
The dry conditions follow a “megadrought” that has gripped the region since 2000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Gallows humour gripped some supporters who made the trip after they adapted a chant which once featured the names of Guimaraes and Isak, who are now with Arsenal and Liverpool.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
One gripped the badge of his red Spanish football shirt and cried: "Viva Espana!"
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
His knuckles turned white where he gripped the door, his mouth twisting in anger.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
And he came half over the edge, and gript the Diskos by the handle, in an instant.
From The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson
Well, altogether gript by the being of love.
From Emblems Of Love by Lascelles Abercrombie
And first gaed by the black black steed, And then gaed by the brown; But fast she gript the milk-white steed, And pu'd the rider down.
From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Volume 2 Consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, Collected in The Southern Counties of Scotland; with a Few of Modern Date, Founded Upon Local Tradition by Sir Walter Scott
"We're rael sorry, and we know your heart was gript to him with grapplin's."
From The Deemster by Sir Hall Caine
And first gaed by the black, black steed, And then gaed by the broun; But fast she gript the milk-white steed, And pu'd the rider doun.
From Ballad Book by Katherine Lee Bates
Even as rain has returned, experts are warning that the drought gripping large swathes of the UK will not immediately come to an end.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
It’s not only gripping, but extremely intricate if you’re brave enough to get on its level.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Eclipse fever is gripping the country, with the type of glasses certified to safely view the Sun hard to find in some places.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
He saw Bori’s flickering silhouette gripping the bars.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Moss could see her gripping the edge of the pulpit, her fingers tense and rigid, and he moved back to stand next to Javier.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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.
