grasp
//ɡɹɑːsp//
Forms
- present (v1)
- grasp
- past (v2)
- grasped
- past participle (v3)
- grasped
- present participle
- grasping
- 3rd person singular
- grasps
- Plural
- grasps
Definitions
1.To grip; to take hold, particularly with the hand.
- How few! yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep, / While I weep, while I weep! / O God! can I not grasp / Them with a tighter clasp?
2.To understand.
- I have never been able to grasp the concept of infinity.
3.To take advantage of something, to seize, to jump at a chance.
1.Grip.
- A vagrant gust of wind snatched the note from my grasp.
- If a mirror does slip from your grasp, do not attempt to catch it. Just get out of the way.
2.Understanding.
- 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.
3.That which is accessible; that which is within one's reach or ability.
- The goal is within my grasp.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4651
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
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.