From Middle English graspen, grapsen, craspen (“to grope; feel around”), from Old English *grǣpsian, from Proto-West Germanic *graipisōn, from Proto-Germanic *graipisōną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to take, seize, rake”), the same ultimate source as grab.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian grapsje (“to grab, grasp”), German Low German grapsen (“to grab; grasp”), German grapsen and grapschen, Old English grāpian ("to touch, feel, grasp"; > Modern English grope). Compare also Swedish krafsa (“to scatch; scabble”), Norwegian krafse (“to scramble”).
Meanings
(figuratively, sometimes) Grip.
If a mirror does slip from your grasp, do not attempt to catch it. Just get out of the way. 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 44:
What the anvil? what dread grasp.
Dare its deadly terrors clasp! 1826, William Blake, “The Tyger”, in Songs of Innocence and of Experience:
in the tyrant's grasp
Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear. 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1:
A vagrant gust of wind snatched the note from my grasp.
Understanding.
There is for the mind but one grasp of happiness: from that uppermost pinnacle of wisdom, whence we see that this world is well designed. 1859, George Meredith, chapter 13, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:
That which is accessible; that which is within one's reach or ability.
he הבנה (understanding) · bg хватка (grip) · es asimiento (grip) · es aprehensión (grip) · sv räckhåll (that which is accessible) · he תפיסה (understanding) · sv begrepp (understanding) · ru усвое́ние (understanding) · pl uchwyt (grip) · cs porozumění (understanding) · ca abast (that which is accessible) · ca comprensió (understanding) · nl grip (grip) · fi käsitys (understanding) · bho पकड़ (grip) · es alcance (that which is accessible) · pdt Hool (grip) · de Verständnis (understanding) · de Griff (grip) · el προσιτός (that which is accessible) · it presa (grip) · fi ymmärrys (understanding) · ru обуча́емость (understanding) · cs uchopení (grip) · fi taju (understanding) · es aferramiento (grip) · it padronanza (understanding) · it a portata di mano (that which is accessible) · bg схватливост (understanding) · nl begrip (understanding) · bg хващане (grip) · sv grepp (that which is accessible) · sv förståelse (understanding) · pt compreensão (understanding) · es comprehensión (understanding) · he לפיתה (grip) · el αντίληψη (understanding) · pt alcance (that which is accessible) · fi ote (grip) · pl zrozumienie (understanding) · pl pojęcie (understanding) · bg разбиране (understanding) · fi käsissä (that which is accessible) · fi käsillä (that which is accessible) · cs sevření (grip) · pl rozumienie (understanding) · it stretta (grip) · el κατανόηση (understanding) · hi पकड़ (grip) · ar قَبْضَة (grip) · gd glacadh (grip) · el άδραγμα (grip) · it comprensione (understanding) · el λαβή (grip) · sv grepp (grip) · es comprensión (understanding)
From Middle English graspen, grapsen, craspen (“to grope; feel around”), from Old English *grǣpsian, from Proto-West Germanic *graipisōn, from Proto-Germanic *graipisōną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to take, seize, rake”), the same ultimate source as grab.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian grapsje (“to grab, grasp”), German Low German grapsen (“to grab; grasp”), German grapsen and grapschen, Old English grāpian ("to touch, feel, grasp"; > Modern English grope). Compare also Swedish krafsa (“to scatch; scabble”), Norwegian krafse (“to scramble”).
Meanings
To grip; to take hold, particularly with the hand.
How few! yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep, / While I weep—while I weep! / O God! can I not grasp / Them with a tighter clasp? 1849 March 31, Edgar Allan Poe, “A Dream Within a Dream”, in The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe: […], volumes II (Poems and Miscellanies), New York, N.Y.: J. S. Redfield, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 40:
To understand.
I have never been able to grasp the concept of infinity.
To take advantage of something, to seize, to jump at a chance.