gripe

[grahyp]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gripe ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), griped, grip·ing.

Informal. to complain naggingly or constantly; grumble.

to suffer pain in the bowels.

Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to tend to come into the wind; to be ardent.

verb (used with object), griped, grip·ing.

to seize and hold firmly; grip; grasp; clutch.

to produce pain in (the bowels) as if by constriction.

to distress or oppress.

to annoy or irritate: His tone of voice gripes me.

to grasp or clutch, as a miser.

Nautical. to secure (a lifeboat) to a deck or against a pudding boom on davits.

noun

the act of gripping, grasping, or clutching.

Informal. a nagging complaint.

a firm hold; clutch.

a grasp; hold; control.

something that grips or clutches; a claw or grip.

Nautical.

a lashing or chain by which a boat is secured to a deck or in position on davits.
Also called gripe piece.a curved timber connecting the stem or cutwater of a wooden hull with the keel.
the exterior angle or curve formed by this piece; forefoot.
the forward end of the dished keel of a metal hull.

a handle, hilt, etc.

Usually gripes. Pathology. an intermittent spasmodic pain in the bowels.

Origin of gripe

1350–1400; Middle English gripen, Old English grīpan; cognate with Dutch grijpen, German griefen; see grip, grope

Related formsgrip·er, noungripe·ful, adjectivegrip·ing·ly, adverb

Can be confusedgrip gripe grippe

Synonyms for gripe

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gripe ON THESAURUS.COM

1. whine, mutter, carp, rail, bellyache.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gripe

objection, grievance, ache, moan, squawk, nag, carp, grumble, mutter, murmur, illness, pain, distress, groan, indisposition, pang, aching, affliction, disorder, infirmity

Examples from the Web for gripe

Contemporary Examples of gripe

It would be ludicrous to gripe about Louis-Dreyfus winning again for her work in Veep.
What's TV's Funniest Show? Our Emmy Awards Comedy Predictions
Kevin Fallon
August 21, 2014
Later, another senior NCO chased me down the hall to gripe about how my pants met my boots.
How I’ll End the War: My First Week Back in Afghanistan
Nick Willard
May 1, 2014
Well, I have a gripe with the pope, was a bit disgusted, and was struck by his radical views.
A Catholic Ex-Banker on Pope Francis’s Radical Views
Chris Lowney
December 15, 2013
The gripe is much older than the bloggers and tweeters who are its latest targets.
Social Media is So Old Even the Romans Had It
Nick Romeo
October 25, 2013
If the gov't wants to listen to me and my friends plan dinners and gripe about our husbands, go for it.
Reader Poll Results: Do you Care That the NSA Is Spying on You?
The Daily Beast
June 8, 2013

Historical Examples of gripe

That same world is a tough wrestler, and has a bear's gripe.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
He struggled furiously, but could not force my gripe from his throat.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
He seized her hands, and, with one gripe of his, made hers fly open.
Deerbrook
Harriet Martineau
You haven't heard me gripe about having to go to the store, have you?
Jerry's Charge Account
Hazel Hutchins Wilson
To gripe the tall town-steeple by the waste,And scoop it out to be his drinking-horn.
The Book of Humorous Verse
Various

British Dictionary definitions for gripe

gripe

verb

(intr) informal to complain, esp in a persistent nagging manner

to cause sudden intense pain in the intestines of (a person) or (of a person) to experience this pain

(intr) nautical (of a ship) to tend to come up into the wind in spite of the helm

archaic to clutch; grasp

(tr) archaic to afflict

noun

(usually plural) a sudden intense pain in the intestines; colic

informal a complaint or grievance

rare

the act of gripping
a firm grip
a device that grips

(in plural) nautical the lashings that secure a boat

Derived Formsgriper, noungripingly, adverb

Word Origin for gripe

Old English grīpan; related to Gothic greipan, Old High German grīfan to seize, Lithuanian greibiu

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 gripe

Old English gripan "grasp at, lay hold, attack, take, seek to get hold of," from Proto-Germanic *gripanan (cf. Old Saxon gripan, Old Norse gripa, Dutch grijpen, Gothic greipan, Old High German grifan, German greifen "to seize"), from PIE root *ghreib- "to grip" (cf. Lithuanian griebiu "to seize"). Figurative sense of "complain, grouse" is first attested 1932, probably from earlier meaning "gripping pain in the bowels" (c.1600; cf. bellyache). Related: Griped; griping.

late 14c., from gripe (v.). Figurative sense by 1934.

gripe in Medicine

gripe

[grīp]

v.

To have sharp pains in the bowels.

n.

gripes Sharp, spasmodic pains in the bowels.

A firm hold; a grasp.