grab

See also Grab

English

Etymology

From Middle Low German grabben (“to snap”), from Proto-Germanic *grab-, from Proto-Indo-European *gherebh (compare Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇāti, “he seizes”), गृभ्णाति (gṛbhṇāti)).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡɹæb/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æb

Verb

grab (third-person singular simple present grabs, present participle grabbing, simple past and past participle grabbed)

1. to make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something)
2. to restrain someone; to arrest
3. to grip the attention; to enthrall
4. (informal) to quickly collect or retrieve
   • 1987 James Grady Just a Shot Away, Bantam, p117

     "I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.

   • 1999 Jillian Dagg, Racing Hearts, Thomas Bouregy & Co., p105

     Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse."

   • 2009 Mike Taylor, A Thousand Sleeps, Tate Publishing, p216

     He looked at Albert and Ben, and then back to Nurse Allen. "I'll just grab my gear and be right back."

5. (informal) to eat something quickly

   We'll just grab a sandwich and then we'll be on our way.

Translations

to make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something)

Albanian: rrëmbej Arabic: قبض (ar) (qábaDa) Bengali: ধরা (bn) Chinese: Mandarin: 抓住 (cmn) (zhuāzhù) Dutch: grijpen (nl) Esperanto: ekkapti (eo) Finnish: tarttua (fi), tarrata (fi) French: attraper (fr), empoigner (fr) German: greifen (de)

Italian: afferrare (it) Japanese: 掴む (ja) (つかむ, tsukamu) Persian: گرفتن (gereftan) Polish: wyrywać, porywać, chwytać, złapać Portuguese: pegar (pt) Russian: схватывать (ru) (sxvátyvat’) impf., хватать (ru) (xvatát’) impf., схватить (ru) (sxvatít’) pf. Spanish: agarrar (es) Swedish: gripa (sv), ta tag i (sv) Turkish: yakalamak (tr)

to restrain someone; to arrest

Albanian: kap (sq) Finnish: pidättää (fi), vangita (fi) Spanish: detener (es), arrestar (es)

Swedish: gripa (sv), arrestera (sv) Turkish: yakalamak (tr), ele geçirmek (tr)

to grip the attention; to enthrall

Albanian: kap (sq)

Finnish: vangita (fi)

Noun

grab (plural grabs)

1. a sudden snatch (for something)
   • 1931 Harold M. Sherman, "The Baseball Clown," Boys' Life, Vol. 21, No. 4 (April 1931), Boy Scouts of America, p47

     The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.

   • 2003 J Davey, Six Years of Darkness, Trafford Publishing, p66

     He made a grab for me and I swung my handbag at him as hard as I could.

2. a mechanical device that grabs

Derived terms

• attention-grabbing
• up for grabs

Synonyms

• catch
• clutch
• grasp
• seize
• snatch

Translations

the act of grabbing something or someone

Albanian: kapje Finnish: tarttuminen

Hungarian: megragadás (hu), megfogás (hu) Portuguese: pegar (pt)

a mechanical device that grabs

Albanian: kapëse Finnish: koura (fi)

Hungarian: markológép (hu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan: agafar Serbo-Croatian: poseći, posegnuti Esperanto: kapti French: saisir

Italian: afferrare Portuguese: agarrar Spanish: agarrar

Anagrams

• brag
• garb

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Polish

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *grab(r)ъ, from Proto-Indo-European *grābʰ-

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ɡrap]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

grab m.

1. hornbeam, any tree of genus Carpinus

Declension

    declension of grab

	singular	plural
nominative	grab	graby
genitive	grabu	grabów
dative	grabowi	grabom
accusative	grab	graby
instrumental	grabem	grabami
locative	grabie	grabach
vocative	grabie	graby