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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Grappling

Grappling \Grap"pling\, n.

  1. A laying fast ho1d of; also, that by which anything is seized and held, a grapnel.

  2. A grapple; a struggle. A match for yards in fight, in grappling for the bear.
    --Dryden.

    Grappling iron, a hooked iron used for grappling and holding fast a vessel or other object.

    Grappling tongs, broad-mouthed tongs for gathering oysters.

Grappling

Grapple \Grap"ple\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grappled; p. pr. & vb. n. Grappling.] [F. grappiller, OF. graypil the grapple of a ship, fr. graper to pluck, prop., to seize, clutch; of German origin. See Grape.]

  1. To seize; to lay fast hold of; to attack at close quarters: as, to grapple an antagonist.

  2. To fasten, as with a grapple; to fix; to join indissolubly.

    The gallies were grappled to the Centurion.
    --Hakluyt.

    Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel.
    --Shak.

Wiktionary
grappling

n. (context gerund of grapple English) An act in which something is grappled or grappled with vb. (present participle of grapple English)

WordNet
grappling
  1. n. the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat; "they had a fierce wrestle"; "we watched his grappling and wrestling with the bully" [syn: wrestle, wrestling, grapple, hand-to-hand struggle]

  2. taking the bull by the horns [syn: braving, confronting, coping with, tackling]

  3. the sport of hand-to-hand struggle between unarmed contestants who try to throw each other down [syn: wrestling, rassling]

Wikipedia
Grappling

Grappling refers to techniques, maneuvers, and counters applied to an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, such as improving relative position, escaping, submitting, or injury to the opponent. Grappling is a general term that covers techniques used in many disciplines, styles and martial arts that are practiced both as combat sports and for self-defense. Grappling most commonly does not include striking or the use of weapons. However, some fighting styles or martial arts known especially for their grappling techniques teach tactics that include strikes and weapons either alongside grappling or combined with it.

Usage examples of "grappling".

But Tiresias heard these shrieks, he saw the sights unholy and ungainly and because of this he sobbed intensely as he continued his shuffling sort of shamble through a Dantean picaresque blindness of pine trees and live oaks grappling in animated splendor with his very soul.

Off Emden, where the Dutch coast joins the German, she dropped some grappling gear overboard with a dull splash, and shortly there rose dripping from the sea great snakelike monsters, covered with mud and seaweed.

And when these were abandoned, and philosophy resorted to definitions and formulas, its language was but a more refined symbolism, grappling with and attempting to picture ideas impossible to be expressed.

Yet for many years now we have had in this country a large and increasing number who were going through the daily pain of grappling with every phase of the distressing problems which come from the poverty, friendlessness, and overwork of the young.

His hands were like grappling hooks when he clamped the charging crook in a jujutsu hold.

The barbarian underestimated the monsters, though, for their rootlike toes found balance quickly and their long arms caught him from behind before he had gone two steps, grappling him on either side and stopping him in his tracks.

In the west, Hideyoshi was nailed down at Takamatsu Castle, grappling with the armies of the Mori.

Cursing to the skies in their strange language the twins tangle, grappling and rolling without regard for the beams or what lies between them.

Beneath a bulbous belly hung two pairs of pincers, one fore and one aft, for grappling onto small asteroids that were two big for loading.

By dint of much grappling and punching the guards succeeded in silencing and immobilizing the eunuchs, who were utterly perplexed by this new turn of events.

Other team members attached catch nets and grappling cables to the piece of stone before it could snap free of the cliffside, while the strongest workers used methane-powered jackhammers and laser cutters the size of cannon to split the rock.

One arm spat a scepter intact out onto the dust-choked pave an instant before failing protective magics flickered the length of the coffin, hung silent and grappling in the air for a long, tense time of silence, then collapsed in a small but sharp explosion that transformed coffin, catafalque, and all into dark dust and hurled it in all directions.

We were not so much as bidden to strike sail now, and the Vikings began to crowd forward in order to board us by the stern, as the grappling chain was hove short by their windlass.

We both fell forward, grappling with each other, colliding with a few people below us, knocking them off their feet before we crashed down on the slick, wet bleachers.

Elaine Brusen was alone, doubtless still grappling doggedly with her job.