grasp
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See also: GRASP
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English graspen, grapsen, craspen (“to grope; feel around”), probably from Old English grǣpsan (“to touch, feel”), from Proto-Germanic *graipisōną. Cognate with German Low German grapsen (“to grab; grasp”), Saterland Frisian Grapse (“double handful”). Compare also Swedish krafsa (“to scatch; scabble”), Norwegian krafse (“to scramble”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
grasp (third-person singular simple present grasps, present participle grasping, simple past and past participle grasped)
- To grip; to take hold, particularly with the hand.
- To understand.
- I have never been able to grasp the concept of infinity.
- To take advantage of something, to seize, to jump at a chance.
Synonyms[edit]
- (grip): clasp, grip, hold tight; See also Thesaurus:grasp
- (understand): comprehend, fathom
- (take advantage): jump at the chance, jump on
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to grasp — see hold
to grip
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to understand
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to take advantage of a situation or of something
Noun[edit]
grasp (plural grasps)
- (sometimes figuratively) Grip.
- 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter III, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, OCLC 40817384:
- Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
- Understanding.
- That which is accessible; that which is within one's reach or ability.
- The goal is within my grasp.
Translations[edit]
grip
understanding
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that which is accessible
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- English lemmas
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