Definition
verbTo grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
verbTo make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
Sentence Examples
Want to grab a drink on the way home?
The man made to grab at me.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern."
— 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
"Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me
Today I need something more substantial"
— 1992, “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite”, in Automatic for the People, performed by R.E.M.:
""I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung."
— 1987, James Grady, Just a Shot Away, Bantam, page 117:
"Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse.""
— 1999, Jillian Dagg, Racing Hearts, Thomas Bouregy & Co., page 105:
"He looked at Albert and Ben, and then back to Nurse Allen. "I'll just grab my gear and be right back.""
— 2009, Mike Taylor, A Thousand Sleeps,, Tate Publishing, page 216: