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

Etymology

Origin of gripe

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

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

Much about the grimy parts of Burning Man is left unmentioned, leaving it up to Redditors to gripe about sanitation pile-ups departing Burners leave in nearby towns.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

Gains are gains, of course, so investors beating the S&P 500 have nothing to gripe about.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

In the 1980s and 1990s, the gripe was “stick to reading, writing and ‘rithmetic,” which implies hostility toward expanding those lessons to more complex ideas like literary analysis, critical thinking, and higher math and sciences.

From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2026

Her biggest gripe was having to cook at home almost every day after work.

From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025

“Good old-fashioned salts. It may gripe you a little but it’ll do the job.”

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Though his wife and I had been in the same women’s book group, I’d known Eric only through the wry gripes we’d all made about our husbands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

Eleven years into their relationship, Waidelich has her gripes with the felines: The fur is everywhere, “the litter box is disgusting,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 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

This was an increase from just over 70,000 in 2020-21, with one of the main gripes about poor response times.

From BBC ● May 14, 2026

The coaches were aware of the gripes, but the bottom line was that Boobie had the talent and they did not.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Executives griped to Dimon about what they saw as Bisignano’s use of company resources for his own benefit, including allegations Bisignano misused the corporate jet for personal purposes, people familiar with the matter said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Neither of these merit calls to the Federal Communications Commission, but past complainants griped about less.

From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2026

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

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025

A third member, however, griped that so many supplicants crowd the place these days that he sometimes can’t get a table.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2024

“Will you sisters hold it down?” he griped as we chattered about our rockets.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

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

The same qualities that make the variety so delicious leave farmers griping.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025

Some of the pieces in the book written before this real-life catastrophe, though, suffer from the rote world-weariness of the columnist accustomed to griping to order.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025

He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his ’78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

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