Q:

jquery - search upwards for an element with a certain class? 

Is there a way in jquery to target $(this).some element above it.with class of 'abc'
(by above, I mean parent, grandparent etc.) 
for example:
<div class='a'>
    <div class='b'>
        <div class='c'>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

So when I click on class='c', Can i target anything above it with class='a', and get the same result as if I clicked class='b' with the same code? ( if I click 'b', the 'a' div will still be its parent (or grandparent) with class of 'a')

A:

Try closest() :
$(this).closest('.a')

Get the first element that matches the selector, beginning at the
  current element and progressing up through the DOM tree. 

A:

.parents method could have a selector. 
$(this).parents('.a')

