gripe

American  

[grahyp] / graɪp /

verb (used without object)

• gripes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• griped,
  past participle,  past
• griping
  present participle

1. Informal. to complain naggingly or constantly; grumble.

   Synonyms:

   bellyache, rail, carp, mutter, whine

2. to suffer pain in the bowels.

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

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verb (used with object)

• gripes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• griped,
  past participle,  past
• griping
  present participle

1. Informal. to annoy or irritate.

   His tone of voice gripes me.

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

3. to distress, afflict, or oppress.

   poverty that gripes and pinches us.

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

5. Archaic.

   1. to seize and hold firmly with the hand, claws, etc.; grasp; clutch.

   2. to greedily take possession of and hold tightly.

      The miser gripes his money for fear of losing it.

noun

• gripes
  plural

1. Informal. a nagging complaint.

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

3. something that grips or clutches; a claw or grip.

4. Nautical.

   1. a lashing or chain by which a boat is secured to a deck or in position on davits.

   2. Also called gripe piece. a curved timber connecting the stem or cutwater of a wooden hull with the keel.

   3. the exterior angle or curve formed by this piece; forefoot.

   4. the forward end of the dished keel of a metal hull.

5. Archaic.

   1. the act of gripping, grasping, or clutching.

   2. a firm hold; clutch.

   3. mastery; hold; control.

6. Rare. a handle, hilt, etc.

gripe British  

/ ɡraɪp /

verb

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

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

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

4. archaic to clutch; grasp

5. archaic (tr) to afflict

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noun

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

2. informal a complaint or grievance

3. rare

   1. the act of gripping

   2. a firm grip

   3. a device that grips

4. (in plural) nautical the lashings that secure a boat

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• griper
  noun
• gripeful
  adjective
• gripingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gripes
  plural

Participles

• griping
  present
• griped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• gripe
  simple
• gripes
  simple
• have griped
  perfect
• has griped
  perfect
• am griping
  progressive
• are griping
  progressive
• is griping
  progressive
• have been griping
  perfect progressive
• has been griping
  perfect progressive

Past

• griped
  simple
• had griped
  perfect
• was griping
  progressive
• were griping
  progressive
• had been griping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will gripe
  simple
• will have griped
  perfect
• will be griping
  progressive
• will have been griping
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of gripe

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

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Explanation

The word gripe, as both noun and verb, refers to a minor complaint. Why gripe about the size of the portions when the food is so awful? The key to gripe is that as complaints go, it's trivial. You don't gripe about your house burning down or the cost of medical care. You gripe about your friend's status updates and the fact the Yankees have too much money. A gripe can last a while. For example, the city has been hearing gripes about parking rules for a generation, but as complaints go, it's just not getting a lot of traction. One person's gripe, however, can be another person's major headache. It all depends on your point of view.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gripe gripes griped griping

The main gripe for the frugal is the proposed budget represents an increase of around 60 percent on the last one at a time when member states have to tighten their belts.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

When Mary would gripe, she said, her dad would laugh or “just keep working.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

The biggest gripe from VAR detractors is that forensic dissections of game footage take the action out of their high-speed context.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

Yet back-to-back red cards against Burnley and Arsenal followed, Chelsea continue to be outrun in the Premier League, and lapses in concentration have become a weekly gripe from the 41-year-old.

From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026

After hearing Annabeth gripe about her dad for two years, I was expecting him to have devil horns and fangs.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

While I spoke with 20 people for this piece, I received 178 individual responses of all kinds, ranging from shock and awe to relative disappointment to distinctly modern moviegoing gripes.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

His years of fielding phone calls from clients, listening to their hopes and their gripes, taught him how players’ personalities fit together—how to build a team, in an era increasingly governed by individual numbers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

“You’re bleeding all over my counter,” one gripes when Miao races to a police station to report the crime.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

It’s a “three-ring circus”: the merits docket, the shadow docket, and the justices’ increasingly public intramural snipings and gripes.

From Slate ● May 30, 2026

I listened to their gripes and just smiled.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

Some traders had griped that such markets were a sucker’s game because the shows are usually recorded before a studio audience several hours before airtime.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026

In perhaps the weirdest admission, Katie Miller griped that her husband wears shoes in the house against her will, which she dislikes because “the kids eat off the floor.”

From Salon ● Feb. 16, 2026

“The system here is broken on many levels,” she griped in a statement.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025

“In America, art is always paid for by somebody and griped about by somebody else,” Klaus opines late in the novel to Di.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025

He griped and whined as he sat up to wipe the snow from his eyes.

From "Because of Mr. Terupt" by Rob Buyea

You hear a lot griping about high ticket prices, but artists and promoters set those prices as a reflection of what their costs are.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026

The 56-year-old native of upstate New York left his first term on the board prematurely in 2011, griping over policy differences.

From Barron's ● May 12, 2026

There was much intra-Senate grousing and griping and bickering in the days preceding Friday morning’s vote.

From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2026

That same year, Life magazine quoted an unnamed member of a symphony orchestra griping that Sinatra actually had the temerity to tell them what tempos he wanted his arrangements played in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025

You always seemed cheerful and cocky, you were good at your Army work and I can’t remember that you did much griping.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

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Related Words

• carp
• grumble
• moan
• murmur
• mutter
• nag
• squawk

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