Dictionary Information: Definition Grasp - Description Meaning Thesaurus

Grasp (Grasp) (?), v. t.
[imp. & p. p. Grasper (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Qraspine.]
[OE. graspen; prob. akin to LG. grupsen, or to E. grope. Cf. Grab, Grope.]

1. To seize and hold by clasping or embracing with the fingers or arms; to catch to take possession of. "Thy hand is made to grasp a palmer's staff." Shak.
2. To lay hold of with the mind; to become thoroughly acquainted or conversant with; to comprehend.

Grasp (Grasp), v. i.

To effect a grasp; to make the motion of grasping; to clutch; to struggle; to strive. "As one that grasped And tugged for life and was by strength subdued." Shak.

-- To grasp at, to catch at; to try to seize; as, Alexander grasped at universal empire,

Grasp (Grasp), n.

1. A gripe or seizure of the hand; a seizure by embrace, or infolding in the arms. "The grasps of love." Shak.
2. Reach of the arms; hence, the power of seizing and holding; as, it was beyond his grasp.
3. Forcible possession; hold. "The whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp." Shak.
4. Wide-reaching power of intellect to comprehend subjects and hold them under survey. "The foremost minds of the next . . . era were not, in power of grasp, equal to their predecessors." Z. Taylor.
5. The handle of a sword or of an oar.