Grab
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grab¹
- /ˈɡɹæb/ Australia, US, UK
- [ˈɡɹʷæb] Australia, US, UK
- /ˈɡɹab/ British, Northern England, Southern, Standard
- /ˈɡɾab/ Scotland, Wales
- /ˈɡɻab/ Northern Ireland
- /ˈɡɹɛb/ New Zealand
- /ˈɡɹɛəb/
- /ˈɡɹæb/
Rhymes with -æb
Where it comes from
From Middle Dutch grabben or Middle Low German grabben (“to grasp, grab, seize, snatch”), from Old Saxon gravan, from Proto-West Germanic *grabbōn, a secondary form of Proto-Germanic *grabōną (“to gather, rake”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to gather, rake, grab, seize”).
Related to archaic German grappen (“to grab”), Danish grabbe (“to grab”), Swedish grabba (“to grab”), Old Norse grápa (“to seize, appropriate”), Middle English grappen (“to feel, grope, grasp, clutch”), Old English ġegræppian (“to seize”).
Related also to Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇā́ti), गृभ्णाति (gṛbhṇā́ti, “he seizes”), Avestan 𐬔𐬭𐬀𐬠 (grab, “to seize”)), Macedonian грабне (grabne, “to snatch”), Bulgarian грабя (grabja, “to rob, to grab”).
verb grabs · grabbing · grabbed
- To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch. I grabbed her hand to pull her back from the cliff edge.
- To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something). The suspect suddenly broke free and grabbed at the policeman's gun.
- To restrain someone; to arrest.
- To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest. How does that idea grab you?
- To quickly collect, retrieve, or take. Come in and grab a seat [i.e. sit down].
- To consume something quickly. We'll just grab a sandwich and then we'll be on our way.
- To take the opportunity of. 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 grabs
- A sudden snatch at something. The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.
- An acquisition by violent or unjust means.
- A mechanical device that grabs or clutches. Almost all modern cranes are electrically operated and a quick-acting type of 30 cwt. capacity is suitable for general cargo, but not powerful enough to operate grabs for discharge of bulk cargoes.
- A device for withdrawing drills, etc., from artesian and other wells that are drilled, bored, or driven.
- A sound bite. For example, one radio bulletin may feature one central issue, like a state election, and will focus on that issue. The bulletin might contain only a few voice wraps but many grabs, leaving the focus firmly on the newsreader.
- That which is seized.
- The rescue of a person from a burning structure. There have been many rescues made as a result of an aggressive search team who went in without a hoseline to make the grab.
- A simple card game.
grab²
- /ˈɡɹæb/ Australia, US, UK
- [ˈɡɹʷæb] Australia, US, UK
- /ˈɡɹab/ British, Northern England, Southern, Standard
- /ˈɡɾab/ Scotland, Wales
- /ˈɡɻab/ Northern Ireland
- /ˈɡɹɛb/ New Zealand
- /ˈɡɹɛəb/
- /ˈɡɹæb/
Rhymes with -æb
Where it comes from
From Arabic غُرَاب (ḡurāb) and Hindi ghurb?: crow, raven, a kind of Arab ship.
noun grabs · ghorab · ghrab · ghurab · gurab
- A two- or three-masted vessel used on the Malabar coast.
Grab³
- /ɡɹæb/
Where it comes from
From Grab, a Singaporean company which provides taxi rides and food deliveries, and provides a system of electronic payments; the company name is from the word grab.
noun Grabs
- A taxi ride booked through the Grab app. I will take a Grab back home. ("I will book a taxi ride from Grab to return home.")
