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Synonyms

up for grabs

Idioms  

  1. Available to anyone, as in Now that he's resigned, his job is up for grabs. This term alludes to something being thrown in the air for anyone to grasp or catch. [Colloquial; 1920s]

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.

The entire village - a three-hour drive from the city of Melbourne - is now up for grabs, much to the shock and ire of tight-knit locals.

From BBC

"Greenland is not for sale, nor is it up for grabs. The Greenlanders will decide their own future," Macron said in the indigenous Greenlandic language.

From Barron's

Two Super Bowl spots remain up for grabs—Seattle and Los Angeles will get a say in the NFC—but the wait that wasn’t much of a wait feels done.

From The Wall Street Journal

Denmark and Greenland say that the island isn’t up for grabs and that its people don’t want to be part of the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal

Voters will also chose a new parliament, with 353 seats up for grabs.

From BBC

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.