English Explanatory Dictionary

grab

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
  2. To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
  3. To restrain someone; to arrest.
  4. To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.
  5. To quickly collect, retrieve, or take.
  6. To consume something quickly.
  7. To take the opportunity of.
noun
  1. A sudden snatch at something.
  2. An acquisition by violent or unjust means.
  3. A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
  4. A device for withdrawing drills, etc., from artesian and other wells that are drilled, bored, or driven.
  5. A sound bite.
  6. That which is seized.
  7. The rescue of a person from a burning structure.
  8. A simple card game.
noun
  1. A two- or three-masted vessel used on the Malabar coast.
noun
  1. A taxi ride booked through the Grab app.

Pronunciation

/ɡɹæb/ En-us-grab.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Grab.wav

Word forms

grab grabs grabbing grabbed ghorab ghrab ghurab gurab

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”).

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 the bull by the horns grab the headlines grab the popcorn grapple handgrab land grab landgrab make a grab misgrab money-grabbing power grab

Translations

Albanian: kapëse Bulgarian: екскаватор Catalan: agafador Finnish: koura German: Greifer Hungarian: markológép Italian: benna Italian: ruspa Italian: calamita Polish: chwytak Portuguese: agarrador Russian: захва́т
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