Grab

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡɹæb/
• Rhymes: -æb

From Middle Dutch grabben ("to grab") or Middle Low German grabben ("to snap"), from Proto-Germanic *grab-, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerebʰ- (compare Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇāti, "he seizes"), गृभ्णाति, Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬡 ("to seize")). Cognate with Danish grabbe ("to grab"), Swedish grabba ("to grab"), Old English ġegræppian ("to seize").

Full definition of grab

Verb

1. (transitive) To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 7, Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.
2. I grabbed her hand to pull her back from the cliff edge.
3. (intransitive) To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
   The suspect suddenly broke free and grabbed at the policeman's gun.
4. To restrain someone; to arrest.
5. To grip the attention; to enthrall.
6. (informal) To quickly collect or retrieve.
• 1987 James Grady Just a Shot Away, Bantam, p117"I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.
• 1999 Jillian Dagg, Racing Hearts, Thomas Bouregy & Co., p105Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse."
• 2009 Mike Taylor, A Thousand Sleeps, Tate Publishing, p216He looked at Albert and Ben, and then back to Nurse Allen. "I'll just grab my gear and be right back."
7. (informal) To consume something quickly.
   We'll just grab a sandwich and then we'll be on our way.
   Is there time to grab a coffee?
8. To take the opportunity of.
• 2012, May 19, Paul Fletcher, Blackpool 1-2 West Ham, Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the London side who did grab what proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards.

Noun

1. a sudden snatch (for something)
• 1931 Harold M. Sherman, "The Baseball Clown," Boys' Life, Vol. 21, No. 4 (April 1931), Boy Scouts of America, p47The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.
• 2003 J Davey, Six Years of Darkness, Trafford Publishing, p66He made a grab for me and I swung my handbag at him as hard as I could.
2. a mechanical device that grabs or clutches
1. a device for withdrawing drills, etc., from artesian and other wells that are drilled, bored, or driven
3. (media) a soundbite

Derived terms

• attention-grabbing
• ungrab
• up for grabs

Synonyms

• catch
• clutch
• grasp
• seize
• snatch

Arabic and Hindi ghurb?: crow, raven, a kind of Arab ship.

Noun

1. A two- or three-masted vessel used on the Malabar coast.

Anagrams

• brag
• garb