grip Hear it!

grip¹ Definition

grip (grip)

noun

  1. the act of taking firmly and holding fast with the hand, teeth, an instrument, etc.; secure grasp; firm hold
  2. the manner in which this is done
  3. any special manner of clasping hands by which members of a secret or fraternal society identify one another as such
  4. ☆ the power of grasping firmly to lose one's grip
  5. the power of understanding; mental grasp to have a good grip on a matter
  6. firm control; mastery in the grip of disease, to get a grip on oneself
  7. a mechanical contrivance for clutching or grasping
  8. a part by which something is grasped; often, specif., a handle or hilt
  9. Etymology: short for gripsack

    a small bag or satchel for holding clothes, etc. in traveling
  10. ☆ one who handles properties and scenery on a stage or TV or film set
  11. Sports the manner of holding a ball, bat, club, racket, etc.

Etymology: ME gripe < OE gripa, a clutch, handful < base of grīpan: see gripe

transitive verb gripped or gript, grip·ping

  1. to take firmly and hold fast with the hand, teeth, an instrument, etc.
  2. to give a grip () to
  3. to fasten or join firmly (to)
    1. to get and hold the attention of
    2. to have a strong emotional impact on

intransitive verb

to get a grip

grip¹ Related Forms
grip·per noun
grip¹ Idioms

come to grips

  1. to engage in hand-to-hand fighting
  2. to struggle or try to cope (with)
grip² Definition

grip (grip)

noun

grippe

grip Synonyms

grip

n.

  1. The power of gripping

    grasp, hold, manual strength, digital strength, ligature, musculature, purchase, government, governance.

  2. Application of the power to grip

    hold, grasp, clutch, gripe, purchase, clasp, catch, cinch, vise, clench, clinch, embrace, handclasp, handhold, fist, handgrip, handshake, snatch, grapple, anchor, squeeze, wrench, grab, cincture, enclosing, enclosure, fixing, fastening, crushing, clamp, clamping, iron grip, hoops of steel, vicelike grip, jaws, snag*, glom*, nip*.

  3. Something suited to grasping

    knocker, knob, ear; see handle 1.

  4. *A traveling bag

    valise, suitcase, satchel; see bag.

grip Synonyms

grip

v.

clutch, grasp, clasp; see seize 1.

come to grips

engage, encounter, cope with; see fight 1, 2, try 1.

grip Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • tighten: It was the Treasury which tightened the grip of Ministers on public services.
  • get: Quick, get a grip, act normal, smile.
  • weaken: It is also highly functional: the hand closes around a triangular bottle, while round bottles open the hand and weaken the grip.
  • lose: BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | China loses grip on internet Word began to spread.

Preposition: on

  • reality: Hubbard's grip on reality, always tenuous, slipped further.

Adjective modifier

  • vice-like: Above all, no release from driving - the daily habit that keeps holidays in the vice-like grip of normal behavior.
  • tenuous: The Imperial Guard and Space Marines are in constant battle to maintain mankind's tenuous grip on survival.
  • tight: Shenmue is a gripping adventure with has a very tight grip on you for a long time.
  • icy: MORENA: Joss NATHAN: Iâm preparing them for the harshness of real life, lest the world crush them in its icy grip.
  • comfortable: It replaces the winding crank and provides a comfortable grip, which facilitates handheld photography.
  • twin: Their return in 1984 came as America choked on the twin grip of Reaganomics and the Yuppie culture.

Modifies a noun

  • rubber: The tires are made of a high grip silicon rubber compound.

Noun used with modifier

  • non-slip: They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
  • pistol: Any switch is available with a standard round knob or an optional pistol grip handle.
  • rubber: The look of the actual device is on the bulky side, with rubber grips fitted either side of the main casing.
  • mole: Just before the 1994 TT he took out his own teeth with a pair of mole grips.
  • fever: MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | Sudoku fever grips UK newspaper readers Guardian Unlimited Web.
  • pencil: Otherwise, molded pencil grips can be used over normal pencils.

Preposition: of

  • heatwave: For those who aren't here, London and the South-East of England are in the grip of a very sticky heatwave.
  • drought: Afghanistan is in the grip of a three-year drought, the worst in living memory.
grip Quotes

One by one the objects are definedö It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf But now the stark dignity of entranceöStill, the profound change has come upon them: rooted, they grip down and begin to awaken.

—Williams,William Carlos

Le colonialisme ne se satisfait pas d'enserrer le peuple dans ses mailles, de vider le cerveau colonise¤   de toute forme et de tout contenu. Par une sorte de perversion de la logique, il s'oriente vers le passe¤   du peuple opprime¤  , le distort, le de¤  figure, l'ane¤  antit. Colonialismisnot satisfiedmerely with holding a people in its grip and emptying the native's brain of all form and content. Bya kind of perverted logic, it turns to the past of the oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures and destroys it.

—Fanon, Frantz Omar

If you believe in the maternal instinct and fail at mother love, you fail as a woman. It is a controlling idea that holds us in an iron grip.

—Friday, Nancy

Dead battles, like dead generals, hold the military mind in their dead grip.

—Tuchman, BarbaraW(ertheim)

Browse dictionary entries near grip

  1. griot
  2. gringo
  3. gringa
  4. grindstone
  5. grinding
  6. grinder
  7. grindelia
  8. grind out
  9. grind
  10. grin
  1. gripe
  2. grippe
  3. gripple
  4. gripsack
  5. gript
  6. Gris
  7. gris-gris
  8. grisaille
  9. Griselda
  10. griseofulvin