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grab

verb
/ɡɹæb/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch grabben or Middle Low German grabben (“to grasp, grab, seize, snatch”), from Old Saxon gravan, from Proto-West Germanic *grabbōn, a secondary form of Proto-Germanic *grabōną (“to gather, rake”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to gather, rake, grab, seize”). Related to archaic German grappen (“to grab”), Danish grabbe (“to grab”), Swedish grabba (“to grab”), Old Norse grápa (“to seize, appropriate”), Middle English grappen (“to feel, grope, grasp, clutch”), Old English ġegræppian (“to seize”). Related also to Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇā́ti), गृभ्णाति (gṛbhṇā́ti, “he seizes”), Avestan 𐬔𐬭𐬀𐬠 (grab, “to seize”)), Macedonian грабне (grabne, “to snatch”), Bulgarian грабя (grabja, “to rob, to grab”).

  1. derived from *gʰrebʰ-✻ — “to gather, rake, grab, seize”
  2. derived from *grabōną✻ — “to gather, rake”
  3. derived from *grabbōn✻
  4. derived from gravan
  5. borrowed from grabben — “to grasp, grab, seize, snatch”
  6. borrowed from grabben

Definitions

  1. To grip suddenly

    To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.

    • I grabbed her hand to pull her back from the cliff edge.
    • Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.

  2. To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).

    • The suspect suddenly broke free and grabbed at the policeman's gun.
    • Stop grabbing or I won't give you any cookies.

  3. To restrain someone

    To restrain someone; to arrest.

  4. ›+ 13 more definitions

    1. To grip the attention of

      To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.

      • How does that idea grab you?
      • Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me Today I need something more substantial

    2. To quickly collect, retrieve, or take.

      • Come in and grab a seat [i.e. sit down].
      • "I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.
      • Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse."

    3. To consume something quickly.

      • We'll just grab a sandwich and then we'll be on our way.
      • Is there time to grab a coffee?

    4. To take the opportunity of.

      • Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the London side who did grab what proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards.

    5. A sudden snatch at something.

      • The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.
      • He made a grab for me and I swung my handbag at him as hard as I could.

    6. An acquisition by violent or unjust means.

    7. A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.

      • Almost all modern cranes are electrically operated and a quick-acting type of 30 cwt. capacity is suitable for general cargo, but not powerful enough to operate grabs for discharge of bulk cargoes.

    8. A sound bite.

      • For example, one radio bulletin may feature one central issue, like a state election, and will focus on that issue. The bulletin might contain only a few voice wraps but many grabs, leaving the focus firmly on the newsreader.

    9. That which is seized.

    10. The rescue of a person from a burning structure.

      • There have been many rescues made as a result of an aggressive search team who went in without a hoseline to make the grab.

    11. A simple card game.

    12. A two- or three-masted vessel used on the Malabar coast.

    13. A taxi ride booked through the Grab app.

      • I will take a Grab back home. ("I will book a taxi ride from Grab to return home.")

The neighborhood

Derived

a drowning man will grab at a straw, a drowning man will grab at straws, attention-grabbing, bash and grab, cashgrab, cash grab, double grab, grab and go, grab-and-go, grab and run, grabass, grab ass, grab-ass, grab at, grab at a straw, grab at straws, grabbable, grab-bag, grab bag, grab bar, grabber, grabble, grab box, grab bucket, grabby, grab by the horns, grab by the lapels, grab by the short hairs, grabfest, grabful, grab game, grab hag, grab handle, grab hoe, grab hold, grab iron, grab life by the balls, grab life by the horns, grab life by the throat, grab off · +30 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at grab. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01grab02arrest03arresting04gripping05catches06catch07seizing08grabbing

A definitional loop anchored at grab. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at grab

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA