grab

Meaning

Verb

1. To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
2. To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
3. To restrain someone; to arrest.
4. To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.
5. (informal) To quickly collect, retrieve, or take.
6. (informal) To consume something quickly.
7. To take the opportunity of.

Noun

1. A sudden snatch at something.
2. An acquisition by violent or unjust means.
3. A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
4. A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
5. A sound bite.
6. (obsolete) That which is seized.
7. A simple card game.

Noun

A two- or three-masted vessel used on the Malabar coast.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡɹæb/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch grabben (“to grab”) or Middle Low German grabben (“to snap”), from Old Dutch or Old Saxon gravan, from Proto-West Germanic *graban, from Proto-Germanic *grab-, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ-.
See also Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇā́ti), गृभ्णाति (gṛbhṇā́ti, “he seizes”), Avestan 𐬔𐬭𐬀𐬠 (grab, “to seize”)). Cognate with Danish grabbe (“to grab”), Swedish grabba (“to grab”), Old English ġegræppian (“to seize”), Middle English grappen (“to feel with the hands; grope”), Macedonian грабне (grabne, “to snatch”), Bulgarian грабя (grabja, “to rob, to grab”).