grab

CEFRC1

/ˈɡɹæb/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To take or hold something suddenly and firmly.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).

Examples

  • The man made to grab at me.

  • Want to grab a drink on the way home?

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To restrain someone; to arrest.

  2. To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.

  3. To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.

More examples

In context

  • I grabbed her hand to pull her back from the cliff edge.

  • Stop grabbing or I won't give you any cookies.

  • The suspect suddenly broke free and grabbed at the policeman's gun.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He tried to blank the falling book before it hit the ground.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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 (g...