gripe

Meanings

1. To complain; to whine.
2. To annoy or bother.
3. To tend to come up into the wind, as a ship which, when sailing close-hauled, requires constant labour at the helm.
4. To pinch; to distress. Specifically, to cause pinching and spasmodic pain to the bowels of, as by the effects of certain purgative or indigestible substances.
5. To suffer griping pains.
6. To make a grab (to, towards, at or upon something).
7. To seize or grasp.

1. A complaint, often a petty or trivial one.
2. A wire rope, often used on davits and other life raft launching systems.
3. Grasp; clutch; grip.
4. That which is grasped; a handle; a grip.
5. A device for grasping or holding anything; a brake to stop a wheel.
6. Oppression; cruel exaction; affliction; pinching distress.
7. Pinching and spasmodic pain in the intestines.

1. Alternative form of grype.

Etymology

From Middle English gripen, from Old English grīpan, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- (“to grab, grasp”). Cognate with West Frisian gripe, Low German griepen, Dutch grijpen, German greifen, Danish gribe, Swedish gripa. See also grip, grope.