GRAPPLING • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Grappling

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/grˈæplɪŋ/ /grˈæpəlɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Grapple v. t. (past & past part. grappled; pres. part. grappling)

To seize; to lay fast hold of; to attack at close quarters: as, to grapple an antagonist.

To fasten, as with a grapple; to fix; to join indissolubly. "The gallies were grappled to the Centurion." "Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel."

Grapple v. i. To use a grapple; to contend in close fight; to attach one's self as if by a grapple, as in wrestling; to close; to seize one another.

To grapple with, to enter into contest with, resolutely and courageously. "And in my standard bear the arms of York, To grapple with the house of Lancaster."

noun

Grappling n.

A laying fast ho1d of; also, that by which anything is seized and held, a grapnel.

A grapple; a struggle. A match for yards in fight, in grappling for the bear.

Grappling iron, a hooked iron used for grappling and holding fast a vessel or other object.

Grappling tongs, broad-mouthed tongs for gathering oysters.

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Etymology of 'Grappling'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Grappling" Quotes from Famous Books

... believe Lord Palmerston made a mistake in not grappling with it from the first, and using all the power the Crown had entrusted to him, even ostentatiously, for the purpose. Now it might be most difficult—but it ought not to pass without a solemn protest on the part of the men who were not connected with the ...

— The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume III (of 3), 1854-1861 • Queen of Great Britain Victoria

... a pair of grappling irons he had laid upon the bench a few minutes before. 'If they are in the caves there is but one way of saving them—the Treasure Cave. Pray that I may be ...

— Chatterbox, 1906 • Various

... was injured, and he clinched as soon as he could. For a few minutes the men reeled about the track; and then with a tense effort Kermode pushed the foreman off the bank and went down with him. The gravel was small and slippery, lying at a steep slope, and they rolled down, still grappling with each other, until there was a splash below. A few moments later Kermode painfully climbed ...

— Prescott of Saskatchewan • Harold Bindloss

... that breaks the continuity of that blessedness, and that is our own sin. We carry our own weather with us, whether we will or no, and we can bring winter into the middle of summer by flinging God away from us, and summer into the midst of winter by grappling Him to our hearts. There is only one thing that necessarily breaks our sense of His Presence, and that is that our hearts should turn away from His face. A man can work hard and yet feel that God is with him. A man can be weighed upon by many distresses and ...

— Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren

... could relate. He was mad with fury of the fight. A mere animal defending life with every means at hand, caring nothing for either wound or hurt so that he won out in the end. Mike was out of it, but the two grappling him fought like wild cats, rough barroom fighters, resorting to any tactics to disable their opponent. Yet it was this that saved him. Crazed as he was, madly as his brain whirled in the fierce struggle, his long training held supreme—he knew how to fight, remembered instinctively every trick ...

— The Case and The Girl • Randall Parrish

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