▪ I. grip, n.1
(grɪp)
Forms: 1 gripe, gripa, 5–7 Sc. pl. grippis, 6–7 grippe, 8 gripp, 3– grip.
[Two formations: (1) OE. gripe str. masc., grasp, clutch, corresp. to OHG. grif-, in comb. (MHG. grif, mod.G. griff) grasp, handle, claw, etc., ON. grip-r possession, property; (2) OE. gripa handful, sheaf; both f. root of gripe. ON. had also grip neut., grasp, clutch (Sw. grepp, Da. greb). In some senses, the n. may be a mod. new formation from the vb. The instances of the word in the 15–17th centuries are chiefly Scotch, while examples in the 18th c. are very rare.]
1. a. Firm hold or grasp; the action of gripping, grasping, or clutching; esp. the tight or strained grasp of the hand upon an object (cf. handgrip); also, grasping power.
| Beowulf (Z.) 1148 Siþðan grimne gripe Guð-laf and Os-laf æfter sæ-siðe sorᵹe mændon. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 158/16 Pugillus, se gripe ðære hand. c 1205 Lay. 15273 Þa Hengest hine igrap mid grimmen his gripen. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. clxxi, ‘Now hald thy grippis’, quod sche, ‘for thy tyme’. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 414 Thir four ilkane out of his grippis flang. 1637–50 Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 331 Taking a grip of the table to help him⁓self up. a 1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 314 Fadownside bendeth backe his middle finger, so that for paine he was forced to forgoe his grippe. 1820 Shelley Vis. Sea 44 Twin tigers..have driven..The deep grip of their claws through the vibrating plank. [Cf. I. 143 the gripe of the tiger.] 1828 Scott Diary 13 Jan. in Lockhart, Grip and accuracy of step have altogether failed me. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge lix, He grasped a little hand that sought in vain to free itself from his grip. 1859 Lang Wand. India 263 The hawk..was just about to give the minar a blow and a grip. 1871 Dixon Tower III. i. 2 His grip on sword and rein was close and tight. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Europe vi. (1894) 147 The insecure grip of one toe on a slippery bit of ice. 1877 Black Green Past. xxx. (1878) 240 His hands keeping a tight grip of about a dozen umbrellas. 1885 Athenæum 23 May 661/1 The horrors of the bear's grip. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 86 In..rheumatoid arthritis the grip of the hands should be regularly measured. 1898 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 380/1 That tide had the grip of an ice-floe. |
b. More particularly, of one hand grasping another; sometimes said with reference to the mode of grasping used as a means of mutual recognition by members of a secret society, such as the freemasons.
| 1785 Burns Addr. to Deil xiv, Masons' mystic word and grip. 1820 Scott Abbot vii, Give us a grip of your hand, man, for auld lang syne. 1857 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green iii. x. 80 It all at once occurred to Billy to give him the masonic grip. 1860 Tennyson Sea Dreams 159, I found a hard friend in his loose accounts, A loose one in the hard grip of his hand. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 159/2 Good Templary is the freemasonry of temperance with ritual, passwords, grips, &c., closely modelled on those of the old secret societies. |
c. Phr. at grips (= at hand (or handy) grips: see handgrip 1): in close combat; hand to hand with. Similarly, to come to grips: to come to close quarters. in grips: in custody.
| 1640 Rutherford Lett. ccxciv. (1894) 593 When ye come to grips with death, the king of terrors. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xvii, You and I will..see him in grips, or we are done wi' him. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. iii. (1871) 248 At grips with self and the devil. 1893 Stevenson Catriona 43, I saw we were come to grips at last. 1895 Sat. Rev. 21 Sept. 366/2 The British farmer..is now at grips with world-wide competition. |
† d. An opportunity for seizing. Obs.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 607 We may our grippis waill. |
2. fig. a. Firm or tenacious hold, grasp, or control; power, mastery (now esp. associated with the idea of oppression or irresistible force). † Formerly also pl. as to fasten one's grips on, let go one's grips, etc. Also to get (or take) a grip on (oneself), to get to grips with (something).
| 1450–70 Golagros & Gaw. 347 In his grippis and ye gane, He wald ourcum yow ilkane. Ibid. 1169 Al the gretest Of gomys that grip has..Of baronis and burowis [etc.]. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. v. 40 Gif ȝe lat ga that is in ȝour grippis. 1600 in Pitcairn Crim. Trials (Bannatyne Club) II. 283, I cair nocht for all the land I hew in this kingdome, incase I get a grip of Dirleton. 1604 Drayton Owle 1213 Let those weake Birds..Submit to those that are of grip and might. 1632 Rutherford Lett. xxiv. (1894) 82 Loose your grips of them all [fears]. a 1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 127 Fasten your grips on the other world, and let your grip of this go. 1832 J. W. Croker in C. Papers 9 Nov., Promoting a subscription to purchase Abbotsford..out of the grip of creditors. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xv, The clutching old man had lost his grip on life. 1883 Gilmour Mongols xviii. 213 Perhaps no other religion..holds its votaries clutched in such a paralysing grip. 1894 J. Knight Garrick i. 7 The grip of poverty is everywhere apparent. 1895 Harper's Nov. 962/1 My dear boy, get a grip on yourself... I won't bite you. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 627 In the grip of malarial fever, on his way to the grave. 1898 J. Caird Univ. Serm. 94 The iron grip of long unresisted habits. 1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 174 My throat wouldn't quit trying to laugh, like retching after your stomach is empty. ‘Whoa, now,’ Anse said. ‘Get a grip on yourself.’ 1947 Sci. News IV. 7 They [sc. readers] have to translate his article into understandable language before they can get to grips with its actual subject matter. 1950 R. Ackland in Plays of Year 1949 611 Don't be such a foolish woman... Sit down and take a grip on yourself. 1955 Times 25 July 5/4 What we have now agreed makes it possible to get to grips with the twin problems of the unity of Germany and the security of Europe. 1967 S. Beckett No's Knife 52 Come now, come now, he said, get a grip on yourself, be a man. |
b. Intellectual or mental hold; power to apprehend or master a subject. to lose one's grip (cf. lose v.1 3 d).
| [1635 D. Dickson Hebr. vi. 19–20 And nowe hee showeth the stabilitie of the grippe which the Believer taketh of these groundes, in the similitude of the grippe which a Shippes Ancre taketh, beeing casten on good ground.] 1861 Thornbury Turner (1862) I. 309 His brain does not retain with the sure grip it once did. 1875 J. Miller First Fam'lies of Sierras (1876) 246 Lost my ‘grip’.., didn't have any ‘snap’ any more. 1884 Pall Mall G. 20 Feb. 4/1 It [a play] lacks colour, stamina, in short, the indefinable something known as ‘grip’. 1885 Manch. Exam. 28 Jan. 3/4 An essay..singularly deficient both in intellectual grip and literary charm. 1894 Doyle Sherl. Holmes 3, I have a grip of the essential facts of the case. 1894 ‘Mark Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson xx, Come, cheer up, old man; there's no use in losing your grip. 1968 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 Feb. 122/5 His work after the war shows a steady decline.., until he seems to have lost his grip altogether. |
c. That quality in a beverage which gives it a ‘hold’ on the palate.
| 1892 Walsh Tea (Philad.) 98 The commoner grades [of Basket-fired tea] are..lacking in ‘grip’ and flavor. 1894 H. Nisbet Bush Girl's Rom. 167 These Bush drinkers..had a decided leaning towards flavour and grip. |
3. A seizure or twinge of pain; a spasm.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 544 For þe aire nowe & þe elementis ere..So trauailid out of temperoure & troubild of þat sone, Þat makis þi grippis and þi gridis a grete dele þe kenere. 1575 Gascoigne Pr. Pleas. Kenilw. (1821) 34, I feel great grips of grief, Which bruise my breast. a 1605 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlvii. 8 Sik gredie grippis I feell. 1786 Burns Sc. Drink xix, Colic grips an' barkin hoast May kill us a'. 1840 Lady C. Bury Hist. of Flirt iv, ‘Grips, Mr. Ellis! what sort of disorder is that?’ ‘A little hacking in my throat, which causes difficulty in breathing’. |
4. As much as can be seized in the hand; a handful. to lie in grip: (of corn) to lie as it is left by the reapers. Obs. exc. dial.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 136 Genim þysse ylcan wyrte godne gripan. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Spelman) cxxvi[i]. 6 Berende gripan heora [L. portantes manipulos suos]. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 19 Romulus..vsed Fasciculos fæni, that is to saie, a grippe or knitche of hay bound together at the ende of a long staffe. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ Introd. 106 Tithe in Sheafe, in Shocke, in Grippe, in Ridge, or at the Lumpe. Ibid. ii. 301 While it [Corne] lay in grip, or in shock, or in sheafe. 1722 Lisle Husbandry 178 The wheat after it is cut and lies in gripp, does not lie so exposed for the sun and wind to dry the gripps after being fogged with wet. 1739 J. Tull Horse-Hoing Husb. (1740) 213 To make up the Grips [of Barley or Oats] into little Heaps by Hands. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. (1807) II. 193 They are usually reaped with the Sickle, and laid in thin grips or reaps. 1842 Akerman Wilts. Gloss. s.v., A grip of wheat is the handful grasped in reaping. |
5. Something which grips or clips. a. Sc. An ear-ring. b. In various technical applications; e.g. a device on a cable car by which the car is attached to and freed from the cable; a tooth or hooked device on the barrel of a rifle, pistol, etc., to secure it to the stock while firing; the narrow part of the bore of a rifled cannon, immediately in front of the shot-chamber; in boat-construction (see quot. 1857). c. A hair-grip.
| a 1800 Bonny J. Seton xiii. in Child Ballads (1890) IV. 53 They cutted the grips out o his ears, Took out the gowd signots. 1857 P. Colquhoun Comp. Oarsman's Guide 30 Knees are angular pieces of wood placed perpendicularly in various parts..but where lateral, they are termed grips, as ‘transom grips’. 1881 Greener Gun 194 Lefaucheux's first gun had but a single grip,..leaving that part unsecured that received the greatest force of the explosion,..Many methods were tried to remedy this evil, one of the best being the double-grip action. 1886 Pall Mall G. 29 Sept. 6/2 Through this slit works the plate connecting the moving body above with what is termed the ‘grip’ on the cable beneath. 1887 J. Bucknall Smith Cable or Rope Traction 100 Immediately the cars are taken on to the road, the cable is pulled or guided into the ‘grips’. 1960 C. Storr Marianne & Mark xi, 144, I want two cards of grips and a set of rollers. |
6. That which is gripped or grasped. a. The handle of a sword; the part of the handle gripped by the hand.
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Grip, the handle of a sword. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 402 His blanched and unused hand Clutched the spoiled grip of his once trusty blade. 1884 Burton Sword vii. 124 The grip is the outer case of the tang. 1894 C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 509 All officers..were to have black grips to their swords. |
b. In a rifle, pistol, etc.: that part of the stock which is held by the hand and is roughened to make the grasp firmer. (Cf. Du. greep.)
| 1881 Greener Gun 248 Good gun-stocks must be..straight in the grain at the grip and head of the gun. 1899 Pall Mall Mag. Jan. 136 My fingers touched the roughened horn of the grip [of the pistol]. |
c. The part of the handle in any implement covered with indiarubber, leather, etc. to make the grasp firmer. Also, the cover itself.
| 1886 St. Nicholas Mag. July 658 Holding the rod by the ‘grip’, the part of the butt wound with silk or rattan to assist the grasp. 1890 Hutchinson Golf (Badm. Libr.) 446 Grip, the part of the handle covered with leather by which the club is grasped. 1891 Cyclist 25 Feb. 153 The handles are brought well back, and fitted with elliptical horn grips. |
7. U.S. A scene-shifter.
| 1888 Scribner's Mag. IV. 444/2 Meanwhile the ‘grips’, as the scene-shifters are called, have hold of the side scenes ready to shove them on. 1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business 26 Grip, stage hand, especially one who works on the stage floor. 1965 J. von Sternberg Fun Chinese Laundry (1966) viii. 191 Grip and Property Man..$100. 1967 H. Harrison Technicolor Time Machine (1968) ix. 92 One of the grips brought out a baby spot and plugged it in for light. |
8. colloq. Short for: a. grip-car (U.S.); b. gripsack (orig. U.S.).
| 1879 Chicago Tribune 7 Mar. 9/5 At Cherokee I stepped from the train, took my ‘grip’, and began in earnest the life of a pilgrim. 1883 Pall Mall G. 11 Dec. 2/2 The word ‘grip-sack’..contracted to ‘grip’, has come to be applied to other articles of luggage [than the hand-satchel]. Ibid. ‘Will you take the grip?’ is equivalent to ‘Will you take the cable tramway?’ 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 442/2, I..had stowed my guncase and grip where they would be least in the way. 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 14 July 5/6 Experienced travellers in all countries always take a bottle of ENO in their grip to offset changes of water and diet. 1928 W. Gillette Astound. Crime Torrington Rd. v. 282 ‘Want anything from the hotel—toilet articles—clothing—tobacco?’ ‘Thanks—I've got 'em outside in a grip.’ 1960 J. Betjeman Summoned by Bells vii. 66 Clutching a leather grip Containing things for the first night of term. 1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai xii. 207, I toted my grip all the way back. |
9. (See quot. 1916.) Austral.
| 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xviii. 243, I had t' do it 'r resign me grip on ther spot. 1916 C. J. Dennis Songs Sentimental Bloke 123 Grip, occupation, employment. 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 32 Grip, a job, regular employment. |
10. attrib. and Comb. (in some instances perh. of the stem of grip v.1), as grip-bag = gripsack; grip-brake, a brake worked by gripping with the hand; grip-car U.S., a tramcar worked by means of a grip (see 5 b) on an endless cable driven by a stationary engine, a cable-car; grip-grass dial., the plant Cleavers, Galium Aparine; grip-knob, a contrivance for holding an article when being turned in a lathe; grip-lug, a lug to grip or hold fast (a handle); grip-man, the man who manipulates the grip of a cable-car; grip-pedal, a pedal designed to prevent the foot from slipping; grip-pulley, (a) a form of grip on a cable-car using the principle of the pulley (Funk's Stand. Dict.); (b) (see quot. 1894); grip-slot, a slot in the track through and along which the shank of the gripping apparatus of a cable-car passes; grip treadle, an early name for grip-pedal.
| 1958 Listener 17 July 107/2 Take, if you can, an extra *grip-bag—a canvas one. 1963 T. Parker Unknown Citizen i. 22 In one hand he carried a blue grip-bag, like those sometimes used by airline passengers. |
| 1885 Cycl. Tour. Club Gaz. IV. 136 The *grip brake in our ‘Club’ tandem. |
| 1883 Pall Mall G. 11 Dec. 2/2 The appliances for attaching and detaching the cars from the cable being called the ‘grip’, and the car in which it is operated a ‘*grip-car’. 1889 Advance (Chicago) 7 Mar. 188 Whistles of engines..and the gong of grip-cars. |
| 1862 C. P. Johnson Useful Plants Gt. Brit. 136 Our English word Cleavers,..and the Scotch ‘*Grip-grass’, have been given from the same cause. |
| 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 135 The concentric circles of perforations, and the four grooves..admit of the insertion of *grip-knobs..so that the article to be turned may be held in any situation. |
| 1891 Cyclist 25 Feb. 153 A *grip-lug serves to secure the handlebar within the steering post. |
| 1886 Science 24 Sept. 275 The driver, or *grip-man, then opened the valve admitting air to the engine. 1891 Daily News 13 June 2/3 Each car, being manned by a ‘gripman’ in front and a conductor behind. |
| 1885 Cycl. Tour Club Gaz. IV. 309 Would not rat-trap or patent *grip pedals be safer than the feet-straps now in use? |
| 1886 Appleton's Ann. Cycl. 122/2 It was not until 1870 that the first patent for a *grip-pulley was issued to Andrew S. Hallidie, of San Francisco. 1894 D. K. Clark Tramways (ed.2) 556 The clutch communicates the motion of the countershaft to the grip pulley, the pulley which moves the cable. |
| 1887 J. Bucknall Smith Cable or Rope Traction 100, bb represents the ‘*grip slots’. |
| 1881 Advt., The fastest times on record will be made with..*grip treadles. |
Add: [1.] e. Chiefly Sport. The manner or style in which one grasps or holds something, esp. a tennis racket, golf club, etc.
| 1890 H. G. Hutchinson Golf iv. 81 Certain points may be noted about the grip, but it is a mistake, in striving after a prescribed fashion, to work the hands into a position of discomfort. 1921 A. Kirkaldy Fifty Yrs. Golf viii. 153 His grip is according to the old-fashioned St. Andrews style—no over-lapping, no interlocking, or other contraption. 1931 Punch 18 Mar. 281 (caption) ‘My hat! Suppose Phoebe gives me the baby to nurse; I'm sure I shan't know how to hold it.’ ‘Don't be an ass; it's just the same grip as for a cocktail-shaker.’ 1951 Harman & Monroe Use your Head in Tennis v. 45 For the overhead slice serve, take hold of your racket in the eastern grip. 1966 Mills & Butler Mod. Badminton iii. 28 The fundamental of any racket game is a correct grip... ‘Grip’ should not be taken literally,..your hold should be firm, but not a tight grasp. 1989 P. Janeczko Brickyard Summer iii. 23 Aunt Clare..demonstrated The proper placement of a napkin, The correct grip on a knife when cutting. |
▸ orig. U.S. A technician in a film or television crew who handles production equipment on the set; spec. one who manipulates the camera dolly.
| 1918 Photoplay Mar. 20 Actors, extra men, grips, electricians, cameramen, etc. 1947 Harper's Mag. Oct. 384/1 For two and a half hours we sat in those canvas-and-wood directors' chairs, our view obstructed by lights, baffles, technicians, ‘grips’, and the enormous technicolour camera. 1968 G. Vidal Myra Breckinridge viii. 26 The director says, ‘O.K., print it,’ and the grips prepare for another setup. 2000 Independent 9 June ii. 9/3 Dolly,..a mobile camera platform mounted on wheels and generally pushed about by a crew member (a dolly grip) rather than propelled by motor. |
▪ II. grip, n.2 Now dial. and in Hunting language.
(grɪp)
Forms: 4–6 gryppe, 5–7 grippe, 6 grypp, 7 griphe, 7–8 gripp, 4– grip. (See also gripe n.2)
[ME. grip, OE. gryp-e (or a) wk. fem. (or masc.), cogn. w. gréop burrow (‘cuniculus’ Wr.-Wülcker 216/1), and MDu. greppe, grippe, MLG. grüppe; cf. gripple. The OE. grép, grépe (grœ́pe) burrow, trench (cogn. with groop) may have coalesced with this word; cf. the pronunciation of sheep as (ʃɪp) in many dialects.]
1. A small open furrow or ditch, esp. for carrying off water; a trench, drain.
| a 1000 Aldhelm Glosses, Brussels (in Engl. Stud. IX. 505) Grypan, cloacæ, latrinæ. c 1300 Havelok 1924 Summe in gripes bi the her Drawen ware, and laten ther. Ibid. 2102 Þan birþe men casten hem in poles, Or in a grip, or in þe fen. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxviii. (1495) 682 Vine braunches bent downe in to a gryppe [ed. 1538 grip] of erthe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1543 The walles vp wroght, wonder to se With grippes full grete was þe ground takon. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 212/2 Gryppe..where watur rennythe a-way in a londe..aratiuncula. 1579 Mem. St. Giles's, Durham (Surtees) 9 Payde..for castinge of the grypp aboute the pynfoalde. 1611 N. Riding Rec. (1884) I. 236 Making a ditch, hole, or griphe in the King's highway. 1625 Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) II. 149 The parck or meddow without the gripp and walles of yoghall. a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1752) 207 The higher the stubble is left the gripps are thereby borne up the higher. 1784 Sir J. Cullum Hist. Hawsted iii. 171 A Grip, a shallow drain to carry water off the roads, ploughed fields, &c. 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. liv, The long grass rotted on the banks and in the grips. 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer ii. viii, An' 'e ligs on 'is back i' the grip, wi' noän to lend 'im a shuvv. 1883 Law Times 1 Dec. 79/2 The owner of the estate caused the grass strips to be intersected by ditches called grips..for the purpose of draining the road. 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 346 Your horse was sure to find his level in the first grip or ditch. |
b. (See quot.)
| 1824 J. Mander Derbysh. Miners' Gloss., Grip, a small narrow cavity in the Mine, or in a rocky or hilly place. |
2. The gutter in a cowhouse. (Cf. groop.)
| [a 1000: cf. 1.] 1825 Brockett N.C. Words, Grip, Gruap, Groop, the space where the dung lies in a cow house, having double rows of stalls; that is, the opening or hollow between them. 1848 Rural Cycl. II. 531 Grip,..the urine gutter of a cow-house or a cattle-shed. 1891 Atkinson Moorland Par. 93 It was in the grip, but it would not win into the calves' pen. |
3. Comb., as grip-yard (see quot. 1882).
| 1593 Manch. Crt. Leet Rec. (1885) II. 85 Roberte Blomeley hath incroched vppon the Queenes hye waye in the Deanes⁓gate by makinge a grypyarde And A hedge. 1847 Halliwell, Grip-yard, a seat of green turf, supported by twisted boughs. North. 1882 Lanc. Gloss., Grip-yard, Grip-yort, a platting of stakes and twisted boughs filled up with earth; generally made to confine a water-course, and occasionally to form artificial banks and seats in pleasure gardens. |
▪ III. grip, v.1
(grɪp)
Forms: 1 Northumb. grioppa, ᵹegrippia, 5 north. grep, 4–6 grippe, gryppe, 7–9 Sc. gripp, 9 Sc. grup, 6– grip; also pa. tense (and pa. pple.) 3 gripte, 4–6 (8–9) gript; Sc. 4–5 gryppet, -it, -yt, 5–9 grippet; 4– gripped.
[ONorthumb. grippa (corresp. to MHG. gripfen; cf. the synonymous OHG. chripphan, MHG. kripfen):—WGer. type *grippjan, f. *gripi-z grip n.1]
1. a. trans. To grasp or seize firmly or tightly with the hand; to seize with the mouth, claw, beak or other prehensile organ.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke ix. 39 Heono gast ᵹegrippde hine & ferlice clioppiað. Ibid. xxiii. 26 Miððy ᵹelæddon hine ᵹe-grippedon sumne simon cyrinisce..& ᵹeseton him þæt rod. Ibid. John vii. 30 Sohton forðon hine to grioppanne [Rushw. ᵹigripanne, Ags. Gosp. nimanne]. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 22 Corineus..sterede hym a non, And gripte [MS.A. kipte] þis geant. c 1350 Will. Palerne 744 He gript his mantel, as a weiȝh woful he wrapped him þer-inne. c 1430 Chev. Assigne 220 The grypte eyþur a staffe in here honde. a 1450 Piers Fulham in Hartshorne Metr. T. 118 Whan thow hym [an ele] grippist and wenest wele Too haue hym siker right as the list. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6302 A serpent..His nek full sare it grepyd. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxii. 29 He grippit hir abowt the west. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. v. 85 Making his prayeris and gripping the alter. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 19 He grypt her gorge with so great paine. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 450 Gripping my throat to stop my crying. 1785 Burns Halloween vi, He grippet Nelly hard an' fast. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. vii. (1889) 60 His right arm behind his back, the hand gripping his left elbow. 1863 Ouida Held in Bondage 1 Our oars feathered..; the river foamed and flew as we gripped it. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. i. 55 The flag gripped in his teeth. 1867 F. Francis Angling v. (1880) 174 If he has gripped the weed in his mouth, as fish will do. 1873–4 J. T. Moggridge Ants & Spiders i. 42 Still the ants gripped their prey as firmly as ever. 1894 Crockett Raiders 70 He..held it [his weapon] gripped between his knees as he rowed. |
† b. to grip up: to pull up forcibly. Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1377 The Grekes..Grippit vp the grounde, girdyn doun þe wallys. Ibid. 1784 Antenor..Grippit vp a gret sayle, glidis on þe water. |
c. transf. Said of a disease.
| 1818 Scott Fam. Lett. 14 Jan., Mine old enemy the cramp grippet me by the pit of the stomach. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. xvi, The gout..grips him by both legs. 1884 Sala Journ. due South i. xii. (1887) 161 Asthma came down upon me like..armed men..and gripped me by the throat. |
d. To place (one's hands) so that they hold each other or an object in a grip.
| 1907 Smart Set Jan. 32/2 She fell back in the chair and gripped her hands round the arms of it. Ibid. Feb. 24/1 He gripped his hands together and put the doubt behind him. 1910 E. M. Albanesi For Love of Anne Lambart 112 Anne's two cold hands gripped themselves together. |
† 2. a. gen. To seize, catch, lay hands upon; to obtain hold or possession of. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 7114 The Troiens..Haue grippit the goodis. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 170 No for the Pape thai wald no kyrkis forber, Bot gryppyt al be wiolence of war. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxvi. 37 The temporall stait to gryp and gather. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iv. 90 The moir digest and grave, The grydiar to grip it. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 34 The whillywha's will grip ye'r gear. 1825–80 Jamieson s.v., She's like the man's mare; she was ill to grip, and she wasna muckle worth when she was grippit. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 172, I gripped about a hundred and forty [hares] wi' the grews. |
b. spec. To seize or encroach upon (land). Sc.
| 1602 Min. Dunrossness Distr. Court in Mill Diary (1889) 180 Airthour in Skelberie is fand to have grippit wrang⁓ouslie ane halff of ane rigg. 1632 in Barry Orkney (1805) App. 473 That no man gripp his neighbours lands under the paine of 10 l. Scots. a 1800 Jamie Telfer xii. in Child Ballads (1898) IV. 6 My lord may grip my vassal-lands. |
3. a. absol. and intr. To take firm hold; to make a grasp or seizure: to get a grip. lit. and fig.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 115 Had ȝe..consideryt his vsage, That gryppyt ay, but gayne-gevyng. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 30 Thay gryp sa fast his geir to get. 1663 Blair Autobiog. iii. (1848) 56 The thumb in the hand is able to grip and hold against the four fingers. 1728 Ramsay Gen. Mistake 136 He..Jobs..extorses, cheats and grips, And no ae turn of gainfu' us'ry slips. 1730 T. Boston Mem. App. 436 Like a bird on the side of a wall gripping with its claws. 1821 Scott Fam. Lett. (1894) II. xvii. 111 Tell me if the boy..can grip hard as a Scott should. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Grip,..to hold, as ‘the anchor grips’. 1894 Times 13 July 12/1 The gain was not made in fore-reaching, but in gripping closer to the wind. |
† b. to grip to: to seize upon, take hold of (lit. and fig.) north. and Sc. Obs.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 421 Gauan gripped to his ax & gederes hit on hyȝt. c 1400 Destr. Troy 931 Iason grippede graithly to a grym sworde. 1450–70 Golagros & Gaw. 530 He grippit to ane grete speir. Ibid. 1026 Gude schir Gawane Grippit to schir Gologras on the grund grene. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 II. 128 Some war licentious; some had greadelie gripped to the possessionis of the Kirk. |
4. trans. To join firmly to something, as with a ‘grip’, grappling-iron, etc.
| 1886 Science 24 Sept. 275 Until the car is gripped to the moving cable, it must depend for its motive power on some other agent. 1887 Hall Caine Deemster xxvii. 170 We know your heart was gript to him with grapplins. |
5. To close tightly, clench (the teeth, etc.). Also intr. for refl.
| 1861 J. Thomson Ladies of Death iii, He grips his teeth, or flings them words of scorn. 1898 G. W. Steevens in Westm. Gaz. 23 Sept. 7/3 Macdonald's jaws gripped and hardened as the flame spurted out again. |
6. fig. To take hold upon (the mind, the emotions); to compel the attention and interest of (a reader, etc.).
| 1891 H. Herman His Angel 109 An indistinct remembrance dashed upon him and gripped his mind. 1894 H. Nisbet Bush Girl's Rom. 13 Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot—yes, she admired them both, but somehow they didn't grip her as Dickens did. |
| absol. 1894 Forum (U.S.) July 587 In other countries, where tradition has gripped more tightly for exclusion [of women from universities]. 1895 Lit. World Oct. 313/2 Even if the character..is slightly overdrawn the story grips. |
7. (See quots. and cf. grip n.1 4.) dial.
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 405 To Grip or Grip up, to take up the wheat, and put it into sheaf. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Grip, to bind sheaves, Berks. 1888 in Berksh. Gloss. |
8. Austral. slang. absol. To catch sheep (for the shearer). Cf. gripper 2 b.
| 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 137 One man can ‘grip’ for about ten or twelve clippers. |
▪ IV. grip, v.2 Now dial.
(grɪp)
Also gripe v.2
[f. grip n.2]
trans. To make ‘grips’ or trenches in; to ditch, trench. Also, to dig (a trench, etc.).
| 1597 Regul. Manor Scawby, Linc. (MS.), That euery man doe suffyciently gryppe & trench ouer all his lands in Stauera bottom. 1601 in Stark Hist. Gainsborough (1817) 161 That every man gripp his lands in the corne fields. 1800 Trans. Soc. Arts XVIII. 110 The water furrows were opened by the plough..and finally gripped with the spade wherever it was necessary to a complete drainage. 1882 J. Evans in Archæologia XLVIII. 106 The objects..were found by a man while ‘gripping’ or cutting a deep narrow grip across the ground. |