▪ I. grasp, n.
(grɑːsp, -æ-)
Also 6–7 graspe.
[f. the vb.]
1. That which is fitted to grasp or clutch, or to be grasped or clutched; the fluke of an anchor, a handle. Now only Naut. the handle of an oar.
| 1561 Eden Arte Nauig. A iij b, The Thirreni founde the vse of the anker of one graspe or flooke. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme ii. lxxi. 421 Two boords..in the midst..made fast to a little sticke or woodden pin in manner of a graspe, by which one may handle them. 1883 in Clark Russell Sailors' Lang. |
2. The action of grasping; a gripping or fast hold; the grip of the hand; † an embrace.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. ii. 13 Beshrew the witch! with venomous wights she stayes..but flies the graspes of loue. 1690 Dryden Don Sebastian iii. (1692) 46 This hand and this [sword] have been acquainted well; It shou'd have come before into my grasp, To kill the Ravisher. 1752 Young Brothers iv. i. Wks. 1757 II. 272 Stubborn is the grasp of dying men. 1800 Southey Thalaba iii. xxxii, From his [a bird's] relaxing grasp a Locust fell. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. xiii. ii, I long'd..To give him the grasp of fellowship. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. i. §7 (1864) 85 The grasp of the hand is the result of an extensive muscular endowment. 1884 M. Mackenzie Dis. Throat & Nose II. 206 His power of grasp with the left hand was..less than normal. |
| transf. 1869 Boutell Arms & Arm. i. 5 The shaft with the arrow-head within its grasp was bound round with bands. |
† b. fig. with allusion to wrestling. to come to (the) grasp: to come to close quarters. Obs.
| c 1583 Burleigh Adv. to Eliz. in Harl. Misc. (1811) VII. 62 As King of Spain, without the Low Countries he may trouble our skirts of Ireland, but never come to grasp with you. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 17, I would it were come to the grasp, we would show them an Irish tricke. 1590 Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. B iv b, I looke for scholasticall graspes, and aunswers to so graue and weightie arguments. |
c. within (one's) grasp: close enough to admit of being grasped. Similarly ready to one's grasp. beyond one's grasp: out of one's reach. Chiefly fig.
| a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. viii. §84 They looked upon it [York] as their own, and had it even within their grasp. 1803 J. Bristed Tour Highlands I. 296 No inducement could prevail upon me to trust myself within the grasp of this amorous Bacchante. 1831 De Quincey Parr Wks. (1890) V. 15 Had volume the second of that same folio with which he [Dr. Johnson] floored Osborne happened to lie ready to the prostrate man's grasp, nobody can suppose [etc.]. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 27 He was restoring lands most of which were quite beyond his grasp. |
3. fig. a. Firm hold or control; possession, mastery.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 36, I would not be the Vilaine that thou thinks't, For the whole Space that's in the Tyrants Graspe. 1634 Milton Comus 357 Within the direful grasp Of savage hunger, or of savage heat. 1699 Pomfret Love Triumph. over Reason 55 I'll not see my charge..Into the grasp of any ruin run. 1811 W. R. Spencer Poems 33 In the grasp of death. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 619 He was in the grasp of one who never forgave. a 1852 Webster Wks. (1877) IV. 133 To rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power. 1875 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xiv. (ed. 5) 225 Albert I tried in vain to wrest the tolls of the Rhine from the grasp of the Rhenish electors. |
b. Intellectual hold; esp. comprehensive mastery of the whole of a subject; hence, mental comprehensiveness.
| 1683 Temple Mem. Wks. 1731 I. 474 The Prince and Pensioner, who alone had so full a Grasp of the Business in Holland, as to [etc.]. 1713 Berkeley Guardian No. 70 ¶7 It is too big for the grasp of a human intellect. 1817 Chalmers Astron. Disc. i. (1852) 39 Though His mind takes into its comprehensive grasp, immensity and all its wonders. 1830 Coleridge Table-t. 11 May, Those enormously prolix harangues are a proof of weakness in the higher intellectual grasp. 1867 A. Barry Sir C. Barry i. 13 Gaining a thorough grasp of his art. 1875 E. White Life in Christ i. i. (1878) 7 In health the mind is strong, in sickness it loses its energy and grasp. 1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preach. i. (ed. 2) 15 We think we have a grasp of new truth. 1884 M. Creighton in Contemp. Rev. XLVI. 144 No historian has ever had so large a grasp as Ranke of the fundamental principles of history. 1889 Ruskin Præterita III. 19 A succession of men of immense mental grasp. |
† 4. Twilight. [? Another word; cf. grisping, gropsing.]
| 1650 Ussher Annals Age vi. (1658) 296 And then, removing his Camp without any noise, in the grasp of the evening, encamped upon the bank of the River Nile. |
5. Comb.: grasp-hold, hold for the grasp.
| 1851 Sir F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. I. 619 Some branch which might furnish grasphold for his hands. |
▪ II. grasp, v.
(grɑːsp, -æ-)
Forms: 4 graasp, (5 craspe, grapse), 4–7 graspe, 4– grasp.
[ME. graspen, metathesis of grapsen, perh. repr. OE. *grǽpsan:—OTeut. type *graipisôn, f. *graip- grope v. Cf. LG., EFris. grapsen to grasp, snatch, graps a grasp.
With the rare form craspe (sense 1), perhaps a distinct word, cf. ON. krafsa, ‘to paw or scratch with the feet’ (Vigf.).]
† 1. intr. To make clutches with the hand. Often used as synonymous with grope. Often with after, to, towards, upon, with. Obs. exc. as in b.
| 1382 Wyclif Deut. xxviii. 29 Thou shalt graasp [1388 grope] in mydday, as is woned a blynd man to graasp in derknissis. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xx. (1495) 237 The blynde puttyth forth the honde all abowte gropyng and graspynge. 1415 Hoccleve To Sir J. Oldcastle 347 O! wher-to graspen yee so fer, and grope After swich thyng. a 1420 ― De Reg. Princ. 212 Þou graspist [v.r. grapsest] heer & þere, as doþ þe blynde. c 1440 Bone Flor. 678 Owt of ther sadyls they felle besyde, And graspyd to odur gere. c 1450 Merlin 649 Than he began to craspe after his arme, for to take from hym his swerde out of his honde. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 172 His hands abroad display'd as one that graspt And tugg'd for Life, and was by strength subdude. 1814 Sorceress i. iii, Why do you shake and grasp upon me so? 1828 Scott F.M. Perth ii, His irritated opponent..grasped towards his own side, as if seeking a sword or dagger. |
| fig. 1742 Young Nt. Th. vii. 2042 This, this is thinking free, a thought that grasps Beyond a grain, and looks beyond an hour. |
b. to grasp at: to make a clutch at, to try to seize. Chiefly with immaterial obj. or fig. Also, To accept with avidity (an offer, etc.).
| 1677 [see grasping vbl. n.]. a 1698 Temple Ess. Constit. & Int. Empire Wks. 1731 I. 87 No Monarchy having ever grasped at so great an Empire there. 1718 Prior Solomon i. 741 Alas! we grasp at Clouds, and beat the Air, Vexing that spirit we intend to clear. 1755 J. McLaurin Serm. & Ess. 25 Covetousness often loses what it has by grasping at more. 1781 Cowper Progr. Error 22 Like quicksilver, the rhetoric they display, Shines as it runs, but, grasped at, slips away. 1840 Thirlwall Greece VII. lviii. 267 Teutames grasped at their offers. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 252 There was little doubt that..by grasping at too much, the government would lose all. 1850 W. Irving Goldsm. iii. 54, I readily grasped at his proposal. 1859 Tennyson Enid 1573 Geraint..grasping at his sword. 1868 Helps Realmah xvi. (1869) 441 Recovering himself he grasped at the balcony. 1898 J. Caird Univ. Addr. 7 Grasping at a premature and false simplicity. |
| transf. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. ii, Old Yew, which graspest at the stones That name the under-lying dead. |
† c. To make the motion of embracing or encircling something with the arms; to grapple with.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1590) 269 Nisus grasping with Amphialus, was with a short dagger slaine. Ibid. 293 b, Argalus..ranne in to graspe with him, and so [they] closed together. 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. i, Some villaine's outrage..Might graspe with her. 1647 W. Browne tr. Gomberville's Polexander iii. 136, I cannot conceive through what urgency so many unfortunate people should be compell'd hither to graspe with death. 1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (1809) IV. 157 She now grasped about his neck, half-smothering him with the repetition of her kisses and caresses. |
2. trans. To clutch at; to seize greedily.
| 1642 Denham Cooper's H. 18 Kings, by grasping more than they can hold, First made their Subjects, by oppression, bold. 1656–9 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age (ed. 2) 92 He who grasps much, holds little. |
| Proverb. 1855 H. G. Bohn Coll. Eng. Prov. 99 Grasp no more than thy hand will hold. Ibid. 365 Grasp all, lose all. |
| absol. a 1700 Dryden (J.), Like a miser 'midst his store, Who grasps and grasps 'till he can hold no more. 1844 Thirlwall Greece VIII. lxii. 147 He was..willing to let his friends grasp and enjoy as they were able. |
3. To seize and hold firmly with the hand. to grasp the nettle: fig. to attack a difficulty boldly.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1590) 199 b, O foole that I am, that thought I coulde graspe water and binde the winde. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 97 Thy Hand is made to graspe a Palmers staffe. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 126 She graspt my hand, And kissing it, spake thus. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 83 Curroon (longing to graspe the Diadem) commands [him] to begin the fight. 1687 A. Lovell Thevenot's Trav. i. 124 A fruit like Oranges, but so big, that one cannot grasp them with both hands. 1708 E. Smith Phædra & Hipp. ii. (1709) 20 Now he devours her with his eager Eyes, Now grasps her Hands. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 91 He grasp'd the mane with both his hands, And eke with all his might. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 286 If two..silver spoons, be grasped one in each hand [etc.]. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. iii. 29 He stretched forth his right hand, which I grasped firmly in mine. 1884 S. St. John Hayti Introd. 10 It was hoped..that, grasping the nettle with resolution, he might suffer no evil results. |
b. fig. or in immaterial sense. (See also 6.)
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. i. Wks. 1856 I. 106 Graspe the sterne bended front Of frowning vengeance with unpaized clutch. 1612–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. i, She [Hagar] chose (apart) to graspe one death, alone, Rather than by her babe a million. 1782 Cowper Retirement 756 We..grasp seeming happiness, and find it pain. 1833 I. Taylor Fanat. vi. 204 The anguish that grasps the heart of his judge! 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 86 Like wrestlers, let us approach and grasp this new argument. 1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preach. vi. (ed. 2) 167 Grasp your thoughts firmly and let your sentences take their chance. |
† 4. To clasp in the arms, embrace; also with in. to grasp up (transf.): to hem in. Obs.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 168 A fashionable Hoste, That slightly shakes his parting Guest by th' hand; And with his armes out-stretcht, as he would flye, Graspes in the commer. 1657 W. Dillingham Comm. Sir F. Vere Ep. Rdr., With three times that number he had grasped up the Prince and his men against the sea-shore. 1684 ? Dryden in Miscell. i. 204 The City Dame..to her Country-house retires, Where she may bribe, then grasp some brawny clown, Or her appointed Gallant come To feed her loose desires. 1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (1809) IV. 142 Seating her fondly on his knee, and grasping her to his bosom. |
5. To hold firmly as with the fingers; to grip.
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 261 It sometimes happens that the object is too large for the [elephant's] trunk to grasp. 1799 Med. Jrnl. II. 246 The fimbriæ..are gradually expanding themselves, so as to grasp and completely enclose the ovaria. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 513 The operation of grasping and swallowing the food..is accomplished through the agency of the Nervous system. 1871 B. Stewart Heat §83 The tire is put on hot..on its contraction in cooling, it grasps the wheel with great force. |
6. To lay hold of with the mind; to become completely cognizant of or acquainted with; to comprehend.
| 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 3 The Eternal Iehovah, who graspeth all past, present, and to come in the eternity of His Wisdom and Power. 1720 Waterland Eight Serm. 85 In one comprehensive View grasping the whole System. 1781 V. Knox Liberal Educ. xi. 108 The memory will grasp and retain all that is sufficient for the purposes of valuable improvement. 1835 I. Taylor Spir. Despot. iii. 94 The one party did not grasp the immortal destinies of the other. 1837–8 Sir W. Hamilton Logic vii. (1860) I. 120 Conception..expresses the act of comprehending or grasping up into unity the various qualities by which an object is characterised. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 367 Philosophers only are able to grasp the eternal and unchangeable. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet i. viii. (1883) 62 Kitty only imperfectly grasped the rudiments of the science. |
Hence grasped ppl. a. Also grasped-at.
| 1814 Apostate iii. iii, With grasped dagger and blanch'd quiv'ring lip. 1889 Spectator 14 Dec. 829 A much-desired and eagerly grasped-at excuse. |