graspn.
/ɡrɑːsp/, /ɡrasp/, U.S. /ɡræsp/ 1. That which is fitted to grasp or clutch, or to be grasped or clutched; the fluke of an anchor, a handle. Now only Nautical the handle of an oar.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > parts of tools generally > [noun] > handle
handleeOE
helvec897
haftc1000
steal1377
start1380
handa1400
helmc1430
handlinga1450
pull1551
grasp1561
hilt1574
cronge1577
hold1578
tab1607
manubrium1609
tree1611
handfast1638
stock1695
handing1703
gripe1748
stem1796
handhold1797
grip1867
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > anchoring equipment > [noun] > anchor > fluke
fluke1561
grasp1561
hook1627
fluec1860
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > rowing apparatus > [noun] > oar > handle of oar
grasp1883
1561 R. Eden tr. M. Cortés Arte Nauigation Epistle sig. A iiiv The Thirreni founde the vse of the anker of one graspe or flooke.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique ii. lxxi. 421 Two boords..in the midst..made fast to a little sticke or woodden pin in manner of a graspe, by which one may handle them.
1883 in W. C. Russell Sailors' Lang.
2. in extended use.1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour i. 5 The shaft with the arrow-head within its grasp was bound round with bands.† b. figurative with allusion to wrestling. to come to (the) grasp: to come to close quarters. Obsolete.
a. The action of grasping; a gripping or fast hold; the grip of the hand; †an embrace.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > embrace > [noun]
beclipping1340
complexion1493
clipa1586
brace1589
twine1602
fold1609
grasp1609
claspa1616
abrazoa1626
colla1627
cling1633
hug1659
folding1713
squeeze1790
cuddle1825
bear squeeze1845
bear hug1870
clinch1901
bosie1952
side hug1984
cwtch1992
bro hug2000
the world > movement > absence of movement > hold or holding > [noun] > firmness of hold > grip or grasp
gripOE
handgripOE
holtc1375
cleeka1400
handfast1540
handy-gripe1542
handigrip1579
gripple1596
fang1597
grasp1609
clutch1785
death grip1792
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iv. ii. 15 Beshrew the witch! with venemous wights she staies..But flies the graspes of loue. View more context for this quotation
1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian iii. 53 This hand and this [sword], have been acquainted well;..It shou'd have come before into my grasp, To kill the Ravisher.
1752 E. Young Brothers iv. i, in Wks. (1757) II. 272 Stubborn is the grasp of dying men.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. iii. 177 From his [a bird's] relaxing grasp a Locust fell.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xiii. ii, in Maud & Other Poems 45 I long'd..To give him the grasp of fellowship.
1855 A. Bain Senses & Intellect i. i. 81 The grasp of the hand is the result of an extensive muscular endowment.
1884 M. Mackenzie Man. Dis. Throat & Nose II. 206 His power of grasp with the left hand was..less than normal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > be near [verb (intransitive)] > be in contact > be in close contact > come into close contact
to feel togethera1500
to come to (the) grasp?1584
?1584 Let. Advice to Queen Elizabeth in J. Spedding Lett. & Life Bacon (1861) I. iii. 55 (modernized text) As King of Spain, without the Low Countries, he may trouble our skirts of Ireland, but never come to grasp with you.
1589 Pappe with Hatchet (1844) 17 I would it were come to the grasp, we would show them an Irish tricke.
1590 ‘Pasquil’ First Pt. Pasquils Apol. sig. B4v I looke for scholasticall graspes, and aunswers to so graue and weightie arguments.
c. within (one's) grasp: close enough to admit of being grasped. Similarly ready to one's grasp. beyond one's grasp: out of one's reach. Chiefly figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb] > conveniently near
at one's fingers' (also finger) ends1528
bain?a1700
within (one's) grasp1703
the world > action or operation > difficulty > practical impossibility > [phrase] > beyond one's powers to do or attain
above one's thumb1766
above one's bend1835
no can do1868
beyond one's grasp1871
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. viii. 392 They look'd upon it [York] as their own, and had it even within their grasp.
1803 J. Bristed Ανθρωπλανομενος I. 296 No inducement could prevail upon me to trust myself within the grasp of this amorous Bacchante.
1831 T. De Quincey Dr. Parr in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 63/2 Had volume the second of that same folio with which he [sc. Dr. Johnson] floored Osborn, happened to lie ready to the prostrate man's grasp, nobody can suppose [etc.].
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) IV. xvii. 27 He was restoring lands most of which were quite beyond his grasp.
3. figurative.
a. Firm hold or control; possession, mastery.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [noun] > control and possession
wieldnesseOE
fathomOE
waldOE
wieldOE
wieldingOE
woldc1275
grip1508
gripe1532
graspa1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. iii. 37 I would not be the Villaine that thou think'st, For the whole Space that's in the Tyrants Graspe . View more context for this quotation
1637 J. Milton Comus 13 Within the direfull graspe Of Savage hunger, or of Savage heat?
1699 J. Pomfret Love Triumphant 55 I'll not see my charge..Into the grasp of any ruin run.
1811 W. R. Spencer Poems 33 In the grasp of death.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 619 He was in the grasp of one who never forgave.
a1852 D. Webster Wks. (1877) IV. 133 To rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power.
1864 J. Bryce Holy Rom. Empire vi. 97 (note) Albert I. tried in vain to wrest the tolls of the Rhine from the grasp of the Rhenish electors.
b. Intellectual hold; esp. comprehensive mastery of the whole of a subject; hence, mental comprehensiveness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intellect > [noun]
i-witc888
anyitOE
witOE
thoughtOE
inwitc1305
intention1340
mindc1384
understandingc1384
intentc1386
intelligencec1390
intellecta1398
minda1398
understanda1400
intellectionc1449
ingeny1477
intellectivec1484
mind-sight1587
intellectual1598
notion1604
intelligency1663
mental1676
nous1678
grasp1683
thinker1835
Geist1871
noesis1881
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > intellectual command, mastery > [noun]
gropeOE
sciencea1387
mastery1585
mastership1612
grasp1683
grip1861
masterhood1869
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > high intelligence, genius > [noun] > breadth, depth, strength of intellect
strengthOE
largenessa1382
profoundnessc1475
breadth1532
profundity1559
amplitude1575
deptha1593
powerfulnessc1595
universality1605
fathoma1616
spaciousness1657
comprehensiveness1683
grasp1683
altitudo1933
1683 W. Temple Mem. in Wks. (1731) I. 474 The Prince and Pensioner, who alone had so full a Grasp of the Business in Holland, as to [etc.].
1713 G. Berkeley in Guardian 1 June 2/1 It is too big for the grasp of a Human Intellect.
1817 T. Chalmers Series Disc. Christian Revelation i. 53 Though His mind takes into its comprehensive grasp, immensity and all its wonders.
1830 S. T. Coleridge Table-talk 11 May Those enormously prolix harangues are a proof of weakness in the higher intellectual grasp.
1867 A. Barry Life & Wks. Sir C. Barry i. 13 Gaining a thorough grasp of his art.
1875 E. White Life in Christ (1878) i. i. 7 In health the mind is strong, in sickness it loses its energy and grasp.
1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preaching (ed. 3) i. 15 We think we have a grasp of new truth.
1884 M. Creighton in Contemp. Rev. XLVI. 144 No historian has ever had so large a grasp as Ranke of the fundamental principles of history.
1888 J. Ruskin Præterita III. i. 19 A succession of men of immense mental grasp.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > sunlight or sunshine > twilight
evengloamOE
twilighting1387
crepusculum1398
crepusculec1400
twilightc1440
twinlightc1532
grisping1580
grey1592
owl-light1599
gropsing1606
twatter-light1606
twitterlight1608
dusk1622
grasp1650
torchlighta1656
crepuscle1665
mock-shade1669
dimps1693
duskish1696
dimmit1746
darklins1767
twilight glow1819
gloama1821
owlet light1821
sandhya1876
dusk-light1937
1650 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) Age vi. 296 And then, removing his Camp without any noise, in the grasp of the evening, encamped upon the bank of the River Nile.
Compounds
grasp-hold n. hold for the grasp.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > (a) handhold
stayc1515
holdfast1566
hand rest1819
handlebar1844
handhold1845
grasp-hold1851
grab bar1959
1851 F. Palgrave Hist. Normandy & Eng. I. 619 Some branch which might furnish grasphold for his hands.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
graspv.
/ɡrɑːsp/, /ɡrasp/, U.S. /ɡræsp/ a. intransitive. To make clutches with the hand. Often used as synonymous with grope v. Often with after, to, towards, upon, with. Obsolete except as in 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > touching > touching with the hand > touch or feel with the hand [verb (intransitive)]
gropec825
handlea1300
taste1377
grappe1382
grasp1382
grubblea1690
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Deut. xxviii. 29 Thou shalt graasp [a1425 L.V. grope] in mydday, as is woned a blynd man to graasp in derknissis.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vii. xx. 237 The blynde puttyth forth the honde all abowte gropyng and graspynge.
1415 T. Hoccleve To Sir J. Oldcastle 347 O! wher-to graspen yee so fer, and grope After swich thyng.
a1420 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 212 Þou graspist [v.r. grapsest] heer & þere, as doþ þe blynde.
c1440 Bone Flor. 678 Owt of ther sadyls they felle besyde, And graspyd to odur gere.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xxxii. 649 Than he be-gan to craspe after his arme, for to take from hym his swerde out of his honde.
1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 iii. ii. 172 His fingers spred abroad as one that graspt for life.
1814 Sorceress i. iii Why do you shake and grasp upon me so?
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth ii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 42 His irritated opponent..grasped towards his own side, as if seeking a sword or dagger.
b. to grasp at: to make a clutch at, to try to seize. Chiefly with immaterial object or figurative. Also, To accept with avidity (an offer, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > seizing > seize [verb (transitive)]
gripea900
afangOE
to lay hands (or hand) on or upon (also in, to)OE
repeOE
atfonga1000
keepc1000
fang1016
kip1297
seize1338
to seize on or upon1399
to grip toc1400
rapc1415
to rap and rendc1415
comprise1423
forsetc1430
grip1488
to put (one's) hand(s) on (also in, to, unto, upon)1495
compass1509
to catch hold1520
hap1528
to lay hold (up)on, of1535
seisin?c1550
cly1567
scratch1582
attach1590
asseizea1593
grasp1642
to grasp at1677
collar1728
smuss1736
get1763
pin1768
grabble1796
bag1818
puckerow1843
nobble1877
jump1882
snaffle1902
snag1962
pull1967
the world > movement > absence of movement > hold or holding > hold [verb (transitive)] > lay hold of or grasp > grasp at or clutch at
snatch1530
reach1542
to catch at ——1578
snap1673
to grasp at1677
clutch1834
grabble1837
seize1848
grab1852
the mind > possession > taking > take [verb (transitive)] > take an offer
to grasp at1840
1677 [implied in: R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra iii. xvii. 132 They lick themselves whole, by an overforward grasping at such passages of Scripture. (at grasping n.)].
1680 W. Temple Surv. Constit. of Empire in Wks. (1731) I. 87 No Monarchy having ever grasped at so great an Empire there.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity i, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 424 Alas! we grasp at Clouds, and beat the Air, Vexing that spirit we intend to clear.
c1749 O. Goldsmith Let. in W. Irving Oliver Goldsmith (1840) I. 40 I readily grasped at his proposal.
a1754 J. MacLaurin Serm. & Ess. (1755) 25 Covetousness often loses what it has by grasping at more.
1781 W. Cowper Progress of Error 22 Like quicksilver, the rhetoric they display, Shines as it runs, but, grasped at, slips away.
1840 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. lviii. 267 Teutames grasped at their offers.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 252 There was little doubt that..by grasping at too much, the government would lose all.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 84 Geraint,..grasping at his sword.
1868 A. Helps Realmah II. xvi. 249 Recovering himself, he grasped at the balcony.
1898 J. Caird Univ. Addr. 7 Grasping at a premature and false simplicity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > absence of movement > hold or holding > hold [verb (transitive)] > lay hold of or grasp
i-fangc888
gripc950
repeOE
befongOE
keepc1000
latchc1000
hentOE
begripec1175
becatchc1200
fang?c1200
i-gripea1225
warpa1225
fastenc1225
arepa1250
to set (one's) hand(s onc1290
kip1297
cleach?a1300
hendc1300
fasta1325
reachc1330
seizec1374
beclipc1380
takea1387
span1398
to seize on or upon1399
getc1440
handc1460
to catch hold1520
to take hold1530
to lay hold (up)on, of1535
grasple1553
to have by the backa1555
handfast1562
apprehend1572
grapple1582
to clap hold of1583
comprehend1584
graspa1586
attach1590
gripple1591
engrasp1593
clum1594
to seize of1600
begriple1607
fast hold1611
impalm1611
fista1616
to set (one's) hand to1638
to get one's hands on1649
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight with [verb (transitive)] > fight at close quarters > grapple with
graspa1586
to grapple with1624
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. vii. sig. Mm5 Nisus grasping with Amphialus, was with a short dagger slaine.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xii. sig. Pp5v Argalus..ranne in to graspe with him, and so [they] closed together.
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. i. 10 Some villaines outrage..Might graspe with her.
a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) iii. v. 136 I cannot conceive through what urgency so many unfortunate people should be compell'd hither to graspe with death.
1792 Brooke's Fool of Quality (rev. ed.) V. xvii. 275 She now grasped about his neck, half-smothering him with the repetition of her kisses and caresses.
2. transitive. To clutch at; to seize greedily.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > seizing > seize [verb (transitive)]
gripea900
afangOE
to lay hands (or hand) on or upon (also in, to)OE
repeOE
atfonga1000
keepc1000
fang1016
kip1297
seize1338
to seize on or upon1399
to grip toc1400
rapc1415
to rap and rendc1415
comprise1423
forsetc1430
grip1488
to put (one's) hand(s) on (also in, to, unto, upon)1495
compass1509
to catch hold1520
hap1528
to lay hold (up)on, of1535
seisin?c1550
cly1567
scratch1582
attach1590
asseizea1593
grasp1642
to grasp at1677
collar1728
smuss1736
get1763
pin1768
grabble1796
bag1818
puckerow1843
nobble1877
jump1882
snaffle1902
snag1962
pull1967
1642 J. Denham Cooper's Hill 18 Kings, by grasping more than they can hold, First made their Subjects by oppression bold.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. iii. xiii. 95 He who grasps much, holds little.
3.
a. To seize and hold firmly with the hand. to grasp the nettle: figurative to attack a difficulty boldly.
ΚΠ
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xxii. sig. Cc7v O foole that I am, that thought I coulde graspe water, and binde the winde.
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. iii. sig. H3 She graspt my hand, And kissing it, spake thus.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) v. i. 97 Thy Hand is made to graspe a Palmers staffe. View more context for this quotation
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 83 Curroon (longing to graspe the Diadem) commands [him] to begin the fight.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 124 A fruit like Oranges, but so big, that one cannot grasp them with both hands.
1708 E. Smith Phædra & Hippolytus ii. (1709) 20 Now he devours her with his eager Eyes, Now grasps her Hands.
1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 91 He grasp'd the mane with both his hands, And eke with all his might.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 285 If two..silver spoons be grasped one in each hand [etc.].
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. iii. 29 He stretched forth his right hand, which I grasped firmly in mine.
1884 S. St. John Hayti Introd. 10 It was hoped..that, grasping the nettle with resolution, he might suffer no evil results.
b. figurative or in immaterial sense. (See also 6.)
ΚΠ
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iii. i. sig. E4 Graspe the sterne bended front Of frowning vengeance, with vnpaized clutch.
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. i. 20 She [sc. Hagar] chose (apart) to graspe one death, alone, Rather then by her babe a million.
1782 W. Cowper Retirement in Poems 756 We..grasp seeming happiness, and find it pain.
1833 I. Taylor Fanaticism vi. 204 The anguish that grasps the heart of his judge!
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 86 Like wrestlers, let us approach and grasp this new argument.
1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preaching (ed. 3) vi. 167 Grasp your thoughts firmly and let your sentences take their chance.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > embrace > [verb (transitive)]
clipc950
freeOE
beclipc1000
windc1175
fang?c1200
yokec1275
umgripea1300
to take in (also into, on) one's armsc1300
umbefold14..
collc1320
lapc1350
bracec1375
embracec1386
clapa1400
folda1400
halsea1400
umbeclapa1400
accollc1400
fathomc1400
halchc1400
haspc1400
hoderc1440
plighta1450
plet?a1500
cuddlec1520
complect1523
umbfoldc1540
clasp1549
culla1564
cully1576
huggle1583
embosom1590
wrap1594
collya1600
cling1607
bosom1608
grasp1609
comply1648
huddlea1650
smuggle1679
inarm1713
snuggle1775
cwtch1965
society > armed hostility > attack > attack [verb (transitive)] > surround or beset
umbelaya1300
umclipa1300
umgivea1300
umsetc1340
umbracec1350
umbeseta1400
umclapa1400
umbewaltc1400
umbesiege1422
circumvene1526
umbcastc1540
umclosec1540
circumvent1553
to grasp up1609
surround1637
contain1899
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 162 A fashionable hoast, That slightly shakes his parting guest by th'hand, And with his armes out-stretcht as he would flie, Graspes in the commer.
1657 W. Dillingham in F. Vere Commentaries Ep. to Rdr. sig. A5 With three times that number he had grasped up the Prince and his men against the Sea-shore.
1684 ? Dryden in Miscell. i. 204 The City Dame..to her Country-house retires, Where she may bribe, then grasp some brawny clown, Or her appointed Gallant come To feed her loose desires.
1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 269 Seating her fondly on his knee, and grasping her to his bosom.
5. To hold firmly as with the fingers; to grip.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > absence of movement > hold or holding > hold [verb (transitive)] > hold firmly, grip, or grasp
clipOE
agropeOE
gripec1175
clencha1300
umbegrip?a1400
clitchc1400
stablec1440
grappe?c1450
coll1490
spenda1500
strain1590
clutch1602
screw1617
fast-hand1632
grasp1774
nevel1788
firm1859
bear-hug1919
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 261 It sometimes happens that the object is too large for the [elephant's] trunk to grasp.
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 2 246 The fimbriæ..are gradually expanding themselves, so as to grasp and completely enclose the ovaria.
1851 W. B. Carpenter Man. Physiol. (ed. 2) 513 The operation of grasping and swallowing the food..is accomplished through the agency of the Nervous system.
1871 B. Stewart Heat (ed. 2) §83 The tire is put on hot..on its contraction in cooling, it grasps the wheel with great force.
6. To lay hold of with the mind; to become completely cognizant of or acquainted with; to comprehend.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > understand [verb (transitive)]
yknoweOE
acknowOE
anyeteOE
latchc1000
undernimc1000
understandc1000
underyetec1000
afindOE
knowOE
seeOE
onfangc1175
takec1175
underfindc1200
underfonga1300
undertakea1300
kenc1330
gripea1340
comprehend1340
comprendc1374
espyc1374
perceivea1387
to take for ——?1387
catcha1398
conceivea1398
intenda1400
overtakea1400
tenda1400
havec1405
henta1450
comprise1477
skilla1500
brook1548
apprend1567
compass1576
perstanda1577
endue1590
sound1592
engrasp1593
in1603
fathom1611
resent1614
receivea1616
to take up1617
apprehend1631
to take in1646
grasp1680
understumblec1681
forstand1682
savvy1686
overstand1699
uptake1726
nouse1779
twig1815
undercumstand1824
absorb1840
sense1844
undercumstumble1854
seize1855
intelligize1865
dig1935
read1956
1680 H. More Apocalypsis Apocalypseos 3 The Eternal Iehovah, who graspeth all past, present, and to come in the eternity of His Wisdom and Power.
1720 D. Waterland 8 Serm. Divinity of Christ 85 In one comprehensive View grasping the whole System.
1781 V. Knox Liberal Educ. xi. 108 The memory will grasp and retain all that is sufficient for the purposes of valuable improvement.
1835 I. Taylor Spiritual Despotism iii. 94 The one party did not grasp the immortal destinies of the other.
a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1860) III. vii. 120 Conception..expresses the act of comprehending or grasping up into unity the various qualities by which an object is characterised.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 367 Philosophers only are able to grasp the eternal and unchangeable.
1881 W. Besant & J. Rice Chaplain of Fleet I. viii. 170 Kitty only imperfectly grasped the rudiments of the science.
Derivatives
grasped adj. Also grasped-at.
ΚΠ
1814 Apostate iii. iii With grasped dagger and blanch'd quiv'ring lip.
1889 Spectator 14 Dec. 829 A much-desired and eagerly grasped-at excuse.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1561
v.1382- the hell mend a person
- the hell mend a thing
- the hell of a
- the hell with
- the henriad
- the herd
- the hidden hand
- the high
- the high levant
- the high toby
- the higher one climbs, the etc one falls
- the higher one climbs, the further one falls
- the higher one climbs, the harder one falls
- the top and tail of something
- the top and the bottom of something
- the top of one's bent
- the top of the morning
- the total abstinence pledge
- the tother
- the tother , etc
- the tother day, etc
- the touch
- the tour
- the tower
- the town and field of