grasp

[grasp, grahsp]

verb (used with object)

1. to seize and hold by or as if by clasping with the fingers or arms.

   Synonyms: grab, clutch, clutch, grip
   Antonyms: release

2. to seize upon; hold firmly.

3. to get hold of mentally; comprehend; understand.

   I don't grasp your meaning.

verb (used without object)

1. to make an attempt to seize, or a motion of seizing, something (usually followed by at orfor ).

   a drowning man grasping at straws; to grasp for an enemy's rifle.

noun

1. the act of grasping or gripping, as with the hands or arms.

   to make a grasp at something.

2. a hold or grip.

   to have a firm grasp of a rope.

3. one's arms or hands, in embracing or gripping.

   He took her in his grasp.

4. one's power of seizing and holding; reach.

   to have a thing within one's grasp.

5. hold, possession, or mastery.

   to wrest power from the grasp of a usurper.

   Synonyms: clutches

6. mental hold or capacity; power to understand.

   Synonyms: comprehension, apprehension, understanding

7. broad or thorough comprehension.

   a good grasp of computer programming.

grasp

/ ɡrɑːsp /

verb

1. to grip (something) firmly with or as if with the hands

2. to struggle, snatch, or grope (for)

3. (tr) to understand, esp with effort

noun

1. the act of grasping

2. a grip or clasp, as of a hand

3. the capacity to accomplish (esp in the phrase within one's grasp )

4. total rule or possession

5. understanding; comprehension

Other Word Forms

• graspable adjective
• grasper noun
• graspless adjective
• regrasp verb (used with object)
• ungraspable adjective
• ungrasped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of grasp¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English graspen, grapsen; cognate with Low German grapsen; akin to Old English gegræppian “to seize” ( grapple )

Word History and Origins

Origin of grasp¹

C14: from Low German grapsen; related to Old English græppian to seize, Old Norse grāpa to steal

Idioms and Phrases

• get a fix on (grasp of)

Synonym Study

See catch. Grasp, reach refer to the power of seizing, either concretely or figuratively. Grasp suggests actually seizing and closing the hand upon something (or, figuratively, thoroughly comprehending something) and therefore refers to what is within one's possession or immediate possibility of possession: a good grasp of a problem; immense mental grasp. Reach suggests a stretching out of (usually) the hand to touch, strike, or, if possible, seize something; it therefore refers to a potentiality of possession that requires an effort. Figuratively, it implies perhaps a faint conception of something still too far beyond one to be definitely and clearly understood.

Example Sentences

The Indian prime minister is a liar and a miscreant, but even he seems to grasp that such an act would be preposterous.

From Salon

But already, with this first move, Moscow has shown that it grasps the depth of local frustrations.

From BBC

Hicks, who grasped the microphone to share words of wisdom on Sunday, was handed his literal flowers from Ansom midway through the day’s events.

From Los Angeles Times

Likewise, industrial workers seeking union recognition during the 1930s grasped that their material interests were not improved by submitting to the dictates of Henry Ford and his fellow industrial moguls.

From Salon

The broad strokes of natural detoxification are easy to grasp, but the particulars not so much.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accept 
• appreciate 
• comprehend 
• fathom 
• perceive 
• pick up 
• realize