grab

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
2. (intransitive) To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
3. To restrain someone; to arrest.
4. (transitive) 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. (countable) A sudden snatch at something.
2. (countable) An acquisition by violent or unjust means.
3. (countable) A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
4. (countable, uncountable) A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
5. (countable) A sound bite.
6. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) That which is seized.
7. (countable, slang, uncountable) The rescue of a person from a burning structure.
8. (uncountable) A simple card game.

Noun

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

Synonyms

seize

snatch

catch

grasp

take

clutch

grip

hold

capture

nab

take hold of

arrest

wrest

grapple

get

snap

touch

apprehend

pick up

catch hold of

clasp

trap

🪤

snag

pinch

snap up

clamp

🗜️

snaffle

vie

usurp

snatch up

scratch

scramble for

captivate

utilize

compete

get hold of

take hold

have

tackle

embrace

receive

squeeze

claw

steal

reach

plunder

press

stick

keep

intercept

Translations

agarrar

saisir

ergreifen

prendere

greifen

attraper

🪤

afferrare

atrapar

grijpen

coger

fangen

packen

asir

capturer

bemachtigen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡɹæb/

Etymology

Cognate with Sanskrit: गृह्णाति

Cognate with Avestan: 𐬔𐬭𐬀𐬠

Cognate with Danish: grabbe

Cognate with Swedish: grabba

Cognate with Old English: ġegræppian

Cognate with Middle English: grappen

Cognate with Macedonian: грабне

Cognate with Bulgarian: грабя

In summary

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 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”).