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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

grabass en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡɹæbˌæs/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From grab + ass.

Meanings

  1. (informal, often, uncountable, used with the verb play) Sexual groping; erotic horseplay.
    • [T]hey wouldn't do any work then, just hang around and drink and play grabass with her and she didn't want that. 1976, Thomas Glynn, Temporary Sanity: A Novel, →ISBN, page 66:
    • Bobby was bear-hugging Sammy Vaughn and then playing grab-ass with Sammy's ex-wife Alice. 1997, Lee K. Abbott, “Chapter One of Wet Places at Noon”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 Dec 2015:
    • "I'm thinking a rousing game of grabass is in my future while you load the dishwasher." . . . "So y'all plannin' on grabbing my ass?" "That and a few other tempting body parts." 2010, Regan Taylor, The Glass Cage, →ISBN, page 81:
  2. (informal, often, uncountable, used with the verb play) Rowdy behavior; general horseplay or foolery.
    • There's no playing grab-ass or fighting in the building. You got a grudge against another man, you fight him Saturday afternoon. Any man playing grab-ass or fighting in the building spends a night in the box. 1967, Cool Hand Luke, spoken by Carr (Clifton James):
    • "Anything else? Yes, Lieutenant Lemmon?" "Yes, sir," Lemmon drawled. "How do I get out of this chicken-shit outfit?" "Knock off the grabass, Glen. Okay, listen up. When you brief your people, make it clear that our mission is defensive only." 1977, Philip Caputo, A Rumor of War (2014 Macmillan edition), p. 46 (Google preview)

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
grab-ass alternative lexicographic
grab ass alternative lexicographic

grabass en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡɹæbˌæs/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From grab + ass.

Meanings

  1. (informal) To fool around.
    • The Paranoids were singing, to the tune of ‘Adeste Fideles’: […] grabassing around, trying to push each other over the side. 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
grab-ass alternative lexicographic
grabasses Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
grabassed Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
grabassed Tense=Past lexicographic
grabassing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
grab ass alternative lexicographic