# grasp
## English
### Alternative forms

* graps

### Etymology

From Middle English graspen, grapsen, craspen (“to grope; feel around”), from Old English *grǣpsian, from Proto-West Germanic *graipisōn, from Proto-Germanic *graipisōną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to take, seize, rake”), the same ultimate source as grab.
Cognate with German Low German grapsen (“to grab; grasp”), German grapsen and grapschen, Saterland Frisian Grapse (“double handful”), Old English grāpian ("to touch, feel, grasp"; > Modern English grope). Compare also Swedish krafsa (“to scatch; scabble”), Norwegian krafse (“to scramble”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɡɹɑːsp/
* (Northern England, Scotland) IPA: /ɡɹasp/
* (General American) IPA: /ɡɹæsp/
* (African-American Vernacular) IPA: /ɡɹæps/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -æsp

### Verb

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

* (grip): clasp, grip, hold tight; See also Thesaurus:grasp
* (understand): comprehend, fathom
* (take advantage): jump at the chance, jump on

#### Derived terms

* begrasp
* engrasp
* foregrasp
* graspability
* graspable
* grasp at a straw
* grasp at straws
* grasper
* grasp for straws
* grasp the nettle
* misgrasp
* regrasp
* ungrasp

#### Related terms

* grapple

#### Translations

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

### Noun

grasp (plural grasps)
* (sometimes figurative) Grip.
** 1826, William Blake, “The Tyger”, in Songs of Innocence and of Experience:What the anvil? what dread grasp. Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
** 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1: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.
** 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 44:If a mirror does slip from your grasp, do not attempt to catch it. Just get out of the way.
* Understanding.
** 1859, George Meredith, chapter 13, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:There is for the mind but one grasp of happiness: from that uppermost pinnacle of wisdom, whence we see that this world is well designed.
* That which is accessible; that which is within one's reach or ability.
    The goal is within my grasp.

#### Derived terms

* beyond someone's grasp
* graspful
* graspless
* handgrasp
* misgrasp
* regrasp
* tripod grasp

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* ARPGs, sprag