Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To take hold of or seize firmly with the hand, the foot, another body part, or an instrument.
- intransitive verb To hold with the arms; embrace.
- intransitive verb To take hold of intellectually; comprehend. synonym: understand.
- intransitive verb To make a motion of seizing, snatching, or clutching.
- intransitive verb To show eager and prompt willingness or acceptance.
- noun The act of grasping.
- noun A firm hold or grip.
- noun An embrace.
- noun The ability or power to seize or attain; reach.
- noun Understanding; comprehension.
- idiom (grasp) To search in desperation for a solution to a difficulty.
- idiom (grasp the nettle) To take on a difficult problem directly and energetically.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To seize and hold by clasping or embracing with the fingers or arms.
- To seize upon; take possession of.
- To seize by the intellect; become thoroughly cognizant of; comprehend.
- To make a grasp, or the motion of grasping; seize something firmly or eagerly.
- noun A grip or seizure by the hand; the act of taking or attempting to take hold of something.
- noun Power of seizing and holding; forcible possession.
- noun Power of the intellect to seize and comprehend subjects; wide-reaching power of comprehension.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To seize and hold by clasping or embracing with the fingers or arms; to catch to take possession of.
- transitive verb To lay hold of with the mind; to become thoroughly acquainted or conversant with; to comprehend.
- intransitive verb To effect a grasp; to make the motion of grasping; to clutch; to struggle; to strive.
- intransitive verb to catch at; to try to seize; as, Alexander grasped at universal empire
- noun A gripe or seizure of the hand; a seizure by embrace, or infolding in the arms.
- noun Reach of the arms; hence, the power of seizing and holding.
- noun Forcible possession; hold.
- noun Wide-reaching power of intellect to comprehend subjects and hold them under survey.
- noun The handle of a sword or of an oar.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
grip ; to take hold, particularly with the hand. - verb To
understand . - noun
grip - noun
understanding - noun that which is
accessible ; that which is within one'sreach orability
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb hold firmly
- verb get the meaning of something
- noun the act of grasping
- noun an intellectual hold or understanding
- noun understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something
- noun the limit of capability
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Within our grasp is the possibility of making Canada a living lab for the future.
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What the general public (or the papers, or whoever) seem unable to grasp is that there will always be cases where the system fails for whatever reason.
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The reality you guys are failing to grasp is that it's not th eliberal Dems who are in precarious positions with their re-elections right now ... it's the Blue Dogs ... and that's what's driving their opposition.
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What you and others fail to grasp is the cost of recording the song should be included in the marginal cost.
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What so very few seem to grasp is this very basic concept:
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What they fail to grasp is at least PRESIDENT Obama put forth policies that were able to stop the bleeding (unlike his predecessor).
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What you and others fail to grasp is the cost of recording the song should be included in the marginal cost.
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What few people seem to grasp is that the basic local information available to the police years ago has all gone especially in urban or urbanised country areas.
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What you and others fail to grasp is the cost of recording the song should be included in the marginal cost.
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But now, when I appeared almost within grasp of my foe, my hopes were suddenly extinguished, and I lost all traces of him more utterly than I had ever done before.
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