grab
1 (grăb)
[Obsolete Dutch, or Low German grabben, from Middle Dutch, or Middle Low German.]
verb: grabbed, grab·bing, grabs.
transitive verb
- To take or grasp suddenly: grabbed the letter from me.
- To capture or restrain; arrest.
- To obtain or appropriate unscrupulously or forcibly: grab public funds; grab power.
- To take hurriedly: grabbed my coat and hat and left.
- Slang To capture the attention of: a plot that grabs the reader.
intransitive verb
- To make a grasping or snatching motion: We grabbed for the life raft.
noun
- Sudden seizure of something or someone; a snatch: “The imminence of death is reflected in every last power-stroke and grab of the great money bosses” (Dylan Thomas)
- One that is grabbed.
- A mechanical device for gripping an object.
idioms
- up for grabs
- Available for anyone to take or win: “The reputation of the . . . king is still up for grabs” (William Zinsser)
derivatives
- grab́ba·ble
- adjective
- grab́ber
- noun
grab
2 (grăb)
[Arabic ġurāb, raven, swift galley.]
noun
- A usually two-masted, square-rigged Arab coastal vessel.
