Gripe
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ɡɹʌɪp/
- Rhymes: -aɪp
Origin
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.
Full definition of gripe
Verb
- (obsolete, intransitive) To make a grab (to, towards, at or upon something).
- (archaic, transitive) To seize, grasp.
- Robynson (More's Utopia)Wouldst thou gripe both gain and pleasure?
- (intransitive) To complain; to whine.
- 2012, April 29, Nathan Rabin, TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III†(season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992), In “Treehouse Of Horror†episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character.
- To suffer griping pains.
- (nautical) To tend to come up into the wind, as a ship which, when sailing close-hauled, requires constant labour at the helm.
- (obsolete, transitive) 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.
- ShakespeareHow inly sorrow gripes his soul.
Noun
gripe
(plural gripes)- A complaint; a petty concern.
- (nautical) A wire rope, often used on davits and other life raft launching systems.
- (obsolete) grasp; clutch; grip
- ShakespeareA barren sceptre in my gripe.
- (obsolete) That which is grasped; a handle; a grip.the gripe of a sword
- (engineering, dated) A device for grasping or holding anything; a brake to stop a wheel.
- Oppression; cruel exaction; affiction; pinching distress.the gripe of poverty
- (chiefly in the plural) Pinching and spasmodic pain in the intestines.
- (nautical) The piece of timber that terminates the keel at the fore end; the forefoot.
- (nautical) The compass or sharpness of a ship's stern under the water, having a tendency to make her keep a good wind.
- (nautical) An assemblage of ropes, dead-eyes, and hocks, fastened to ringbolts in the deck, to secure the boats when hoisted.
- (obsolete) A vulture, Gyps fulvus; the griffin.
- ShakespeareLike a white hind under the gripe's sharp claws.