grab
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: firefighting
government
media
Etymology: From Middle Dutch grabben or Middle Low German grabben (“to grasp, grab, seize, snatch”), from Old Saxon gravan, from Proto-West Germanic *grabbōn, a secondary form of Proto-Germanic *grabōną (“to gather, rake”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to gather, rake, grab, seize”).
Related to archaic German grappen (“to grab”), Danish grabbe (“to grab”), Swedish grabba (“to grab”), Old Norse grápa (“to seize, appropriate”), Middle English grappen (“to feel, grope, grasp, clutch”), Old English ġegræppian (“to seize”).
Related also to Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇā́ti), गृभ्णाति (gṛbhṇā́ti, “he seizes”), Avestan 𐬔𐬭𐬀𐬠 (grab, “to seize”)), Macedonian грабне (grabne, “to snatch”), Bulgarian грабя (grabja, “to rob, to grab”).
Inflected forms:
form: grabs
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: grabbing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: grabbed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: grabbed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: grabs
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I grabbed her hand to pull her back from the cliff edge.
Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.
gloss: To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The suspect suddenly broke free and grabbed at the policeman's gun.
Stop grabbing or I won't give you any cookies.
gloss: To restrain someone; to arrest.
pos: verb
gloss: To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: How does that idea grab you?
Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me
Today I need something more substantial
gloss: To quickly collect, retrieve, or take.
pos: verb
tags: informal
examples: Come in and grab a seat [i.e. sit down].
"I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.
Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse."
He looked at Albert and Ben, and then back to Nurse Allen. "I'll just grab my gear and be right back."
gloss: To consume something quickly.
pos: verb
tags: informal
examples: We'll just grab a sandwich and then we'll be on our way.
Is there time to grab a coffee?
gloss: To take the opportunity of.
pos: verb
examples: Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the London side who did grab what proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards.
gloss: A sudden snatch at something.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.
He made a grab for me and I swung my handbag at him as hard as I could.
gloss: An acquisition by violent or unjust means.
pos: noun
tags: countable
gloss: A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: Almost all modern cranes are electrically operated and a quick-acting type of 30 cwt. capacity is suitable for general cargo, but not powerful enough to operate grabs for discharge of bulk cargoes.
gloss: A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A sound bite.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: For example, one radio bulletin may feature one central issue, like a state election, and will focus on that issue. The bulletin might contain only a few voice wraps but many grabs, leaving the focus firmly on the newsreader.
gloss: That which is seized.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
gloss: The rescue of a person from a burning structure.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: There have been many rescues made as a result of an aggressive search team who went in without a hoseline to make the grab.
gloss: A simple card game.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
Synonyms: catch
clutch
grasp
seize
snatch
Derived words: a drowning man will grab at a straw
a drowning man will grab at straws
attention-grabbing
bash and grab
cashgrab
cash grab
double grab
grab and go
grab-and-go
grab and run
grabass
grab ass
grab-ass
grab at
grab at a straw
grab at straws
grabbable
grab-bag
grab bag
grab bar
grabber
grabble
grab box
grab bucket
grabby
grab by the horns
grab by the lapels
grab by the short hairs
grabfest
grabful
grab game
grab hag
grab handle
grab hoe
grab hold
grab iron
grab life by the balls
grab life by the horns
grab life by the throat
grab off
grab one's ankles
grabpole
grab rail
grabrail
grab sample
grab some air
grab some pine
grab some Zs
grab some z's
grab some Z's
grab the bull by the horns
grab the headlines
grab the popcorn
grapple
handgrab
land grab
landgrab
make a grab
misgrab
money-grabbing
power grab
pregrab
regrab
screengrab
smash and grab
smash-and-grab
snatch and grab
take a grab
ungrab
up for grabs
wreck grab
Translations:
lang: Albanian
word: kapëse
lang: Bulgarian
word: екскаватор
roman: ekskavator
lang: Catalan
word: agafador
lang: Finnish
word: koura
lang: German
word: Greifer
lang: Hungarian
word: markológép
lang: Italian
word: benna
lang: Italian
word: ruspa
lang: Italian
word: calamita
lang: Polish
word: chwytak
lang: Portuguese
word: agarrador
lang: Russian
word: захва́т
roman: zaxvát