GRASP • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Grasp

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noun

Grasp n.

A gripe or seizure of the hand; a seizure by embrace, or infolding in the arms. "The grasps of love."

Reach of the arms; hence, the power of seizing and holding; as, it was beyond his grasp.

Forcible possession; hold. "The whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp."

Wide-reaching power of intellect to comprehend subjects and hold them under survey. "The foremost minds of the next... era were not, in power of grasp, equal to their predecessors."

The handle of a sword or of an oar.

verb

Grasp v. t. (past & past part. grasper; pres. part. qraspine)

To seize and hold by clasping or embracing with the fingers or arms; to catch to take possession of. "Thy hand is made to grasp a palmer's staff."

To lay hold of with the mind; to become thoroughly acquainted or conversant with; to comprehend.

Grasp v. i. To effect a grasp; to make the motion of grasping; to clutch; to struggle; to strive. "As one that grasped And tugged for life and was by strength subdued."

To grasp at, to catch at; to try to seize; as, Alexander grasped at universal empire,

See images of 'Grasp'

Etymology of 'Grasp'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Grasp" Quotes from Famous Books

... exclaimed M'Ginnis, tightening his grasp, "you sure are some class, Kid, in that stiff collar an' sporty tie. How's the stock market? Are ye a ...

— The Definite Object - A Romance of New York • Jeffery Farnol

... suppressed groan, of unutterable anguish, struck on Madeleine's ear; and the hand Maurice held dropped from his grasp. ...

— Fairy Fingers - A Novel • Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie

... Jefferson Worth's face became a gray mask from behind which his mind reached out as though to grasp what Texas would say before the man put it into words. "Well?" The single word came with the colorless sound of ...

— The Winning of Barbara Worth • Harold B Wright

... sure, and this is Gold I grasp. I could not see this Devil's cloven Foot; Nor am I such a Coxcomb to believe, But he was as substantial as his Gold. Spirits, Ghosts, Hobgoblins, Furies, Fiends and Devils, I've often heard old Wives fright Fools and Children with, Which, once arriv'd to common Sense, ...

— The Works of Aphra Behn, Vol. III • Aphra Behn

... among them who looked double the size of the average adult—and must have been double the weight, at any rate—whose sport was to chase the young females. They, knowing his game, fled before him, but he caught them readily. But before he could have his will of any, she would bound from his grasp as if stung, and always escape, as this sudden spurt of energy was more than he ...

— The Position of Woman in Primitive Society - A Study of the Matriarchy • C. Gasquoine Hartley

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