grab
verb
- the action of taking something in one's hand
- to capture, obtain, taking hold of
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L12578 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɡɹæb/ / /ˈɡɹæb/ / [ˈɡɹʷæb]
noun
Etymology: 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.
- 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.")”
verb
Etymology: 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”).
- To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
“I grabbed her hand to pull her back from the cliff edge.”
“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.”
- To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
“The suspect suddenly broke free and grabbed at the policeman's gun.”
“Stop grabbing or I won't give you any cookies.”
- To restrain someone; to arrest.
- To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.
“How does that idea grab you?”
“Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me Today I need something more substantial”
- To quickly collect, retrieve, or take.
“Come in and grab a seat [i.e. sit down].”
“"I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.”
- To consume something quickly.
“We'll just grab a sandwich and then we'll be on our way.”
“Is there time to grab a coffee?”
- 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.”