grasp
[grasp, grahsp]
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
to make an attempt to seize, or a motion of seizing, something (usually followed by at or for): a drowning man grasping at straws; to grasp for an enemy's rifle.
noun
Origin of grasp
1350–1400; Middle English graspen, grapsen; cognate with Low German grapsen; akin to Old English gegræppian to seize (see grapple)
Synonyms for grasp
Synonym study
1. See catch. 10. Grasp, reach refer to the power of seizing, either concretely or figuratively. Grasp suggests actually seizing and closing the hand upon something (or, figuratively, thoroughly comprehending something) and therefore refers to what is within one's possession or immediate possibility of possession: a good grasp of a problem; immense mental grasp. Reach suggests a stretching out of (usually) the hand to touch, strike, or, if possible, seize something; it therefore refers to a potentiality of possession that requires an effort. Figuratively, it implies perhaps a faint conception of something still too far beyond one to be definitely and clearly understood.
Antonyms for grasp
1. release.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for ungraspable
unimaginable, unintelligible, puzzling, impenetrable, opaque, unfathomable, baffling, mystifying, inconceivable, imperceptible, microscopic, unseen, indecipherable, inexplicable, incomprehensible, unknowable, illegible, meaningless, vague, unaccountableExamples from the Web for ungraspable
Historical Examples of ungraspable
It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.
Moby Dick; or The WhaleHerman Melville
Since then he has cultivated only that ungraspable forelock.
He had no real knowledge of the subject, and I had none of any kind, which made its ungraspable facts all the more thrilling.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, CompleteAlbert Bigelow Paine
There were times when the ungraspable idea came before her that Juliet was herself.
The Ghost GirlH. De Vere Stacpoole
Everything was elusive, ungraspable, evasive—he seemed to get no further forward.
In the Mayor's ParlourJ. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher
grasp
verb
noun
Word Origin for grasp
C14: from Low German grapsen; related to Old English græppian to seize, Old Norse grāpa to steal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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grasp
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
grasp
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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