gripe

English

Etymology

From Middle English gripen, from Old English grīpan, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- (“to grab, grasp”). Cognate with West Frisian gripe, Low German griepen, Dutch grijpen, German greifen, Danish gribe, Swedish gripa. See also grip, grope.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɹaɪp/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪp

Verb

gripe (third-person singular simple present gripes, present participle griping, simple past griped or (obsolete) grope, past participle griped or (obsolete) gripen)

1. (intransitive, informal) To complain; to whine.
   • 2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in AV Club‎^[1]:

     In “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character.

2. (transitive, informal) To annoy or bother.

   What's griping you?

3. (nautical) To tend to come up into the wind, as a ship which, when sailing close-hauled, requires constant labour at the helm.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To pinch; to distress. Specifically, to cause pinching and spasmodic pain to the bowels of, as by the effects of certain purgative or indigestible substances.
   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

     How inly sorrow gripes his soul.

5. (intransitive) To suffer griping pains.
   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:

     the griping of an hungry belly

6. (obsolete, intransitive) To make a grab (to, towards, at or upon something).
7. (archaic, transitive) To seize or grasp.
   • 1551, Thomas More, “(please specify the Internet Archive page)”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […], →OCLC:

     Wouldst thou gripe both gain and pleasure?

   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act , scene iii:

     UUhoſe hands are made to gripe a warlike Lance—
     Their ſhoulders broad, for complet armour fit,
     Their lims more large and of a bigger ſize
     Than all the brats yſprong from Typhons loins:

   • 1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […], →OCLC:

     Unclutch his griping hand.

Synonyms

• (complain): bitch (vulgar), complain, whine, whinge

Derived terms

• begripe

Translations

to complain; to whine

• French: se plaindre (fr)
• German: maulen (de), meckern (de)
• Russian: жа́ловаться (ru) impf (žálovatʹsja)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: quejarse (es), gimotear (es)

Noun

gripe (plural gripes)

1. A complaint, often a petty or trivial one.
2. (nautical) A wire rope, often used on davits and other life raft launching systems.
3. (obsolete) Grasp; clutch; grip.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     A barren sceptre in my gripe.

   • 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, I:

     The young peasant […] disengaged himself from Manfred's gripe […].

   • 1833, Mary Shelley, The Mortal Immortal

     I started — I dropped the glass — the fluid flamed and glanced along the floor, while I felt Cornelius's gripe at my throat, as he shrieked aloud, "Wretch! you have destroyed the labour of my life!"

4. (obsolete) That which is grasped; a handle; a grip.

   the gripe of a sword

5. (engineering, dated) A device for grasping or holding anything; a brake to stop a wheel.
6. (obsolete) Oppression; cruel exaction; affliction; pinching distress.

   the gripe of poverty

   • 1785, William Cowper, “The Garden”, in The Task, a Poem, in Six Books. By William Cowper […] To which are Added, by the Same Author, An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq. Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools, and The History of John Gilpin, London: Printed for J[oseph] Johnson, No. 72 St. Paul's Church-Yard, OCLC 221351486; republished as The Task. A Poem. In Six Books. To which is Added, Tirocinium: or, A Review of Schools, new edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Printed for Thomas Dobson, bookseller, in Second-street, second door above Chestnut-street, 1787, OCLC 23630717, page 87:

     'Tis the cruel gripe, / That lean hard-handed poverty inflicts, / The hope of better things, the chance to win, / The wiſh to ſhine, the thirſt to be amus'd, / That at the found of Winter's hoary wing, / Unpeople all our counties, of ſuch herds, / Of flutt'ring, loit'ring, cringing, begging, looſe, / And wanton vagrants, as make London, vaſt / And boundless as it is, a crowded coop.

7. (chiefly in the plural) Pinching and spasmodic pain in the intestines.
8. (nautical) The piece of timber that terminates the keel at the fore end; the forefoot.
9. (nautical) The compass or sharpness of a ship's stern under the water, having a tendency to make her keep a good wind.
10. (nautical) An assemblage of ropes, dead-eyes, and hocks, fastened to ringbolts in the deck, to secure the boats when hoisted.
11. (obsolete) A vulture, Gyps fulvus; the griffin.
    • 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:

      Like a white hind under the gripe's sharp claws.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “gripe”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Derived terms

• gripe water

Translations

complaint; petty concern

• Bulgarian: оплакване (bg) n (oplakvane)
• Catalan: clam (ca) m, queixa (ca) f
• Dutch: klacht (nl)
• Finnish: narina (fi), marina (fi) (complaint); huoli (fi) (concern)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: clamhsán m
• Russian: жа́лоба (ru) f (žáloba)
• Spanish: queja (es) f, gimoteo (es) m (complaint), nimiedad (es) f (petty concern)
• Welsh: cwyn m or f

nautical: wire rope

• Finnish: vaijeri (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

grasp, clutch, grip

• Bulgarian: хващане (bg) n (hvaštane), улавяне (bg) n (ulavjane)
• Finnish: ote (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: схва́тывание (ru) n (sxvátyvanije)

that which is grasped

• Finnish: kahva (fi), kädensija (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Griff (de) m

engineering: device for grasping or holding anything

• Bulgarian: закопчалка (bg) f (zakopčalka)
• Finnish: kahva (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: зажи́м (ru) m (zažím), тиски́ (ru) m pl (tiskí) (vise)

pinching distress

• Finnish: puristus (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: резь (ru) f (rezʹ), ко́лики f pl (kóliki)

pinching and spasmodic pain in the intestines

• Bulgarian: колики (bg) f pl (koliki)
• Finnish: pistävä mahakipu
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek:

  Ancient: στρόφος m (stróphos)

• Russian: резь (ru) f (rezʹ), ко́лики f pl (kóliki)

nautical: piece of timber that terminates the keel — see forefoot

nautical: sharpness of a ship's stern

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

nautical: assemblage to secure the boats when hoisted

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Gyps fulvus — see griffin

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Maori: ^{(please verify)} amuamu
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Anagrams

• Greip, Griep

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Galician

Etymology

Attested since 1853. From French grippe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡɾipɪ]

Noun

gripe m or f (plural gripes)

1. (pathology) flu, influenza

   Synonyms: gripallada, gripalleira, gripaxe

Derived terms

• gripallada
• gripalleira
• gripar
• gripaxe
• gripo
• gripio

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “gripe”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “gripe”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “gripe”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

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Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English gripe, from Proto-West Germanic *gripi, from Proto-Germanic *gripiz.

Alternative forms

• grepe, grippe, grype

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡrip(ə)/, /ˈɡreːp(ə)/

Noun

gripe (plural grippes or gripen)

1. Gripping or grabbing; taking with the hand.
2. (rare) A small group or collection of things.
3. (rare) An assault or attack.
4. (rare) A twinge; a sharp pain.

Related terms

• gripel

Descendants

• English: grip
  • → Dutch: grip
• Scots: grip, grup
• Yola: grip

References

• “grip(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-22.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old French gripe, from Latin gryps, grȳphus, from Ancient Greek γρῡ́ψ (grū́ps).

Alternative forms

• grijp, grip, grippe, gryp, grype, gryyp

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡrip(ə)/, /ˈɡriːp(ə)/

Noun

gripe (plural gripes)

1. A griffin (mythological beast; also in heraldry).
2. A vulture (compare modern English griffon vulture).

Descendants

• English: grip (obsolete)

References

• “grī̆p(e, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-22.

Etymology 3

Verb

gripe

1. Alternative form of gripen

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North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian gripa, which derives from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną.

Verb

gripe

1. (Mooring) to grab, seize

Conjugation

Mooring conjugation of gripe

infinitive I	gripe
infinitive II	tu gripen
infinitive III	än grip
past participle	gram
imperative	grip
	present	past
1st-person singular	ik grip	ik griip
2nd-person singular	dü grapst	dü griipst
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/et grapt	hi/jü/et griip
1st-person dual	wat bååge	wat griipen
2nd-person dual	jat bååge	jat griipen
1st-person plural	we bååge	we griipen
2nd-person plural	jam bååge	jam griipen
3rd-person plural	ja bååge	ja griipen
	perfect	pluperfect
1st-person singular	ik hääw gram	ik häi gram
2nd-person singular	dü hääst gram	dü häist gram
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/et heet gram	hi/jü/et häi gram
1st-person dual	wat hääwe gram	wat häin gram
2nd-person dual	jat hääwe gram	jat häin gram
1st-person plural	we hääwe gram	we häin gram
2nd-person plural	jam hääwe gram	jam häin gram
3rd-person plural	ja hääwe gram	ja häin gram
	future
1st-person singular	ik wård gripe
2nd-person singular	dü wårst gripe
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/et wårt gripe
1st-person dual	wat wårde gripe
2nd-person dual	jat wårde gripe
1st-person plural	we wårde gripe
2nd-person plural	jam wårde gripe
3rd-person plural	ja wårde gripe

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse grípa (“to grab”), from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- (“to grasp, grab”). Cognate with Danish gribe, Swedish gripa, Icelandic grípa, English gripe, Dutch grijpen, German greifen.

Verb

gripe (imperative grip, present tense griper, simple past grep or greip, past participle grepet, present participle gripende)

1. to grab, grasp, grip
2. to seize (grab, capture).
3. to seize (take advantage of an opportunity).

Derived terms

Terms derived from gripe

• foregripe
• gripe dagen

• gripe inn
• håndgripelig

• pågripe

Related terms

• grep

References

• “gripe” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²ɡriːpə/

Verb

gripe (present tense grip, past tense greip, past participle gripe, passive infinitive gripast, present participle gripande, imperative grip)

1. Alternative form of gripa

Derived terms

• gripe dagen
• gripe inn

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Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *gripiz. Cognate with Old High German grif- (German Griff), Old Norse gripr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡri.pe/

Noun

gripe m (nominative plural gripe or gripas)

1. grip, clutch, grasp

Declension

Declension of gripe (strong i-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	gripe	gripas
accusative	gripe	gripas
genitive	gripes	gripa
dative	gripe	gripum

Descendants

• Middle English: gripe, grepe, grippe, grype
  • English: grip
    • → Dutch: grip
  • Scots: grip, grup
  • Yola: grip

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• grīpe: IPA^(key): /ˈɡriː.pe/
• gripe: IPA^(key): /ˈɡri.pe/

Verb

grīpe

1. inflection of grīpan:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. singular present subjunctive

Verb

gripe

1. inflection of grīpan:
   1. second-person singular past indicative
   2. singular past subjunctive

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• grippe (obsolete)

Noun

gripe f (plural gripes)

1. The flu, influenza

Verb

gripe

1. Template:pt-verb-form-of

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡripe]

Noun

gripe f pl

1. inflection of gripă:
   1. indefinite plural
   2. indefinite genitive/dative singular

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Spanish

Alternative forms

• gripa (Colombia, Mexico)

Etymology

Borrowed from French grippe, from gripper (“to seize”), of Germanic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾipe/ [ˈɡɾi.pe]

Noun

gripe f (plural gripes)

1. (pathology) flu, influenza

   Synonym: influenza

   Tengo la gripe. ― I have the flu.

Derived terms

• antigripal
• agriparse
• gripe aviar
• gripe española
• gripe porcina

Verb

gripe

1. inflection of gripar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• pigre

Further reading

• “gripe”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

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West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian grīpa, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡripə/

Verb

gripe

1. to grab, to grasp

Inflection

Strong class 1
infinitive	gripe
3rd singular past	griep
past participle	grepen
infinitive	gripe
long infinitive	gripen
gerund	gripen n
auxiliary	hawwe
indicative	present tense	past tense
1st singular	gryp	griep
2nd singular	grypst	griepst
3rd singular	grypt	griep
plural	gripe	griepen
imperative	gryp
participles	gripend	grepen

Weak class 1
infinitive	gripe
3rd singular past	grypte
past participle	grypt
infinitive	gripe
long infinitive	gripen
gerund	gripen n
auxiliary	hawwe
indicative	present tense	past tense
1st singular	gryp	grypte
2nd singular	grypst	gryptest
3rd singular	grypt	grypte
plural	gripe	grypten
imperative	gryp
participles	gripend	grypt

Derived terms

• begripe

Further reading

• “gripe (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011