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What is "grasp"

Crossword clues for grasp

grasp
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
grasp
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
grasp a concept (=understand it)
▪ Children often grasp new concepts more quickly than adults.
grasp the meaning (=begin to understand the meaning)
▪ She suddenly grasped the meaning of his frantic gestures.
grasp/appreciate/understand the significance of sth
▪ The press was slow to grasp the significance of what had happened.
realize/grasp the implications (=understand what they are)
▪ The government has been slow to grasp the implications of the current teacher shortage.
sb's grasp of reality (=their understanding of reality)
▪ They portrayed her as a sick woman with only a tenuous grasp of reality.
sb's hand grabs/grasps sth (=take and hold something firmly)
▪ He felt Connor's hand grasp his shoulder.
seize/grasp an opportunity (=do something very eagerly when you have the chance)
▪ She saw an opportunity to speak to him, and seized it.
slipped from...grasp
▪ Cally slipped from his grasp and fled.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
fully
▪ I don't know if the general public has fully grasped just how undemocratic the present Labour leadership election rules are.
▪ Furthermore neither side fully grasped the priorities, the political problems and the policy-making processes of the other.
how
▪ Horses are not stupid and will soon grasp how to avoid hard graft!
▪ I had just come to grasp how physical scientists understand the Universe in terms of certain quantities which are always rigorously conserved.
▪ I don't think you've grasped how retro he is.
▪ But even the ingenious Dom Pérignon failed to grasp how close he was to radically improving sparkling wine production.
▪ No matter how much these technologists know about genes, they have never grasped how an entire organism functions.
immediately
▪ There are formal operational thinkers - those who immediately grasp the abstract form of the problem and solve it quickly and easily.
quickly
▪ He had also quickly grasped that the islanders would do nothing to endanger the safety of Sycorax.
▪ The right balance of detail should help the reader quickly grasp the nature of the problem and your approach to it.
▪ Seth and his followers quickly grasped their opportunity and immediately closed the lid and fastened it securely.
▪ Reyes Heroles is well-respected for his ability to quickly grasp complex issues.
▪ What seems like a small problem to you and me quickly grasps the attention of all the young people in the room.
quite
▪ The tabloids couldn't quite grasp what they had here.
▪ I haven't quite grasped what the acquisitions policy is here.
▪ Howard is still a little jealous of his authority, hasn't yet quite grasped the new set-up since my Ministry was established.
■ NOUN
arm
▪ But as his hand grasped her arm, she recognised defeat, and, halting, she swung around.
▪ When I stop midway, he grasps my hand or arm and pushes it toward his feet.
▪ I sit beside her mum, who grasps my arm with both hands, like a drowning woman.
▪ She drained her glass, refilled it and grasped the arm of the chair.
▪ Strong hands grasped Isabel's arms.
▪ She felt a firm grasp on her arm and a second later she was on Chalon's back.
▪ Taking a deep breath, he grasped Mait's arm, and pulled him away from the enhancer.
▪ Free to scramble away, instead she went up to him and grasped his arm.
concept
▪ Vibrancy as entertainment was a new concept for Lucien to grasp.
fact
▪ When will the Opposition grasp that simple fact?
▪ His sources do not help him grasp the inconvenient fact that many young men actually enjoy warfare.
hand
▪ I released her hand and grasped her firmly by the buttocks, small but ripe.
▪ Betty was the Blue Girl, with a hawk-wing swoop of black hat, forbidding gaze, hands grasping the white chair.
▪ He stood in the doorway holding the thirty-eight in his right hand, with his left hand grasping his right wrist.
▪ But as his hand grasped her arm, she recognised defeat, and, halting, she swung around.
▪ Each time he stretched out his hand to grasp them the wind tossed them high away out of reach.
▪ Then his hands grasped her shoulders.
▪ How do you command your hand to grasp a cup?
handle
▪ He grasped the shaky handle of the office door, and cursed.
▪ You grasp the handle, and can feel the coolness of it in your hand.
▪ She crossed the room in a few quick strides, grasped the handle of the door set in the wall and pulled.
▪ You open the lid by grasping a handle shaped like a burned match.
▪ With one hand he grasped the string handle of the carrier-bag with the Union Jack on it.
▪ You reach out and grasp the handle.
▪ She grasped the heavy iron handle and turned it cautiously.
▪ He grasped the handle of the door in one hand, and that of the spoon in the other.
idea
▪ Friction between the generations is exacerbated when younger staff grasp the new idea and their creativity is suddenly released.
▪ Once we really grasp its idea, then we are ready to begin our journey.
▪ The reader who has grasped these ideas has the root of the matter in him.
▪ Before the managers could begin to understand what providing leadership meant, they had to grasp these fundamental ideas.
▪ Read through the suggestions, grasp the ideas, and learn.
implication
▪ He said nothing and waited for Tolby to grasp the implications.
▪ Ministers have generally failed to grasp the implications of Mrs Thatcher's conversion to the cause of the environment.
▪ My thoughts went round and round in circles, as I tried to grasp all the implications at once.
meaning
▪ The concentration on detail and the speaker's reaction might prevent you from grasping the speaker's meaning anyway.
nettle
▪ Mellor grasped the nettle and told how he felt like Daniel in the lion's den.
▪ Then it may be able to grasp the nettles of boundaries and ethos and see them as secondary.
▪ The community has also grasped the nettle of the unemployment argument for development.
▪ Since impacts are the product of population numbers and consumption, all nations should grasp the nettle of eventual zero population growth.
▪ Mr. Thornton and Mr. Taylor grasped that nettle.
▪ A new field of activity seemed to be opening up for him if only he had the courage to grasp the nettle.
▪ Mrs Bottomley later dismissed suggestions that she had failed to grasp the nettle.
▪ When the right hon. Gentleman came to that office, he had the opportunity to grasp the nettle of prison reform.
opportunity
▪ Isabel had grasped the opportunity of his presence to escape from Gloucester.
▪ Perhaps only Chandos boss Brian Couzens would grasp an opportunity like that.
▪ One person will grasp an opportunity with enthusiasm, whereas another will recoil from the same chance with anxiety and fear.
▪ Seth and his followers quickly grasped their opportunity and immediately closed the lid and fastened it securely.
▪ The Prime Minister failed to grasp that opportunity.
▪ Many labour-only subcontractors have grasped the opportunity to expand initially to a labour and material sub-contractor and subsequently to a general contractor.
▪ Should not the Government grasp that opportunity?
point
▪ Once again, no party except ours seems to have grasped this simple point or made any proposal to act on it.
▪ You have to grasp a major point.
▪ After the lectures and discussions she would spend extra time ensuring anyone with language difficulties had grasped the important points.
▪ I don't think Stuart at all grasped the point I was making.
▪ The interplay of these terms is not always easy to grasp, but the point of positing them is comparatively clear.
▪ The Labour Party utterly failed to grasp the point, let alone the enormity, of what the Government had done.
▪ If only the women could grasp my points of view.
principle
▪ But, try as I might, I just couldn't grasp the principle.
▪ Even Ellet failed to grasp this principle.
▪ It is essential that this group of patients grasp the essential dietary principles at the outset.
▪ From what we hear, not everybody has entirely grasped the principle of the Prime Minister's reform.
▪ Their alchemists were experimenting with gunpowder, their engineers had grasped the basic principles of steam propulsion.
shoulder
▪ Then his hands grasped her shoulders.
▪ Benjamin hastened over and grasped the woman's shoulder.
▪ The minder's hand grasped the photographer's shoulder.
▪ Loretta put down her book, grasped him by the shoulders, and heaved him back into the arms of his tormentors.
significance
▪ The expert's advantage is in his easy access to the evidence and in his better ability to grasp its significance.
▪ Burty grasped the significance of the photographic Nemesis.
straw
▪ But sometimes you grasp at straws.
▪ For now, researchers admit that they are still grasping at straws.
truth
▪ Cranston, full of wine and his own theories, was now certain they had grasped the truth.
▪ There have been times in our history when we grasped this obvious truth more surely.
▪ Loyalty-obsessed companies have grasped two important managerial truths.
▪ In the end we will grasp the truth.
▪ The music press scrambled around, at times rather pathetically, to grasp hold of the truth.
▪ It is a attempt to grasp the higher spiritual truth.
wrist
▪ A hand shot out and grasped her wrist.
▪ He stood in the doorway holding the thirty-eight in his right hand, with his left hand grasping his right wrist.
▪ They had grasped her by the wrists and feet and dragged her to the neighbouring room.
▪ Suddenly he leaned forward across the table and grasped my wrist.
■ VERB
begin
▪ Conservation thinking has begun to grasp a few of the same nettles.
fail
▪ The Opposition have totally failed to grasp the banding concept.
▪ After 20 years of coaching, did Donahue fail to grasp what he and some 50 million were witnessing?
▪ Sadly, it seems that he has failed to grasp the relationship between the district council and the board.
▪ Even Ellet failed to grasp this principle.
▪ They fail to grasp that what is required is their own detailed response to what is before them.
▪ There are those deep into their careers who still fail to grasp this concept.
▪ Ministers have generally failed to grasp the implications of Mrs Thatcher's conversion to the cause of the environment.
▪ Why is it that we in this great nation consistently fail to grasp the deep-seated social and economic problems that plague us?
need
▪ Diving animals need some grasp of the difference between solids and fluids, as well as of depth, movement, and distance.
▪ But the difference needs to be grasped before I can venture an opinion usefully upon that.
▪ What we need to grasp is that the scientist is a member of the public.
reach
▪ In a sense he reaches out and grasps it.
▪ If it frightened him, he habitually reached out and grasped it.
▪ Then he reached out, grasped Mandy's outstretched hand and pulled her back to safe, solid ground.
▪ You reach out and grasp the handle.
▪ He fought his way upwards, fingernails tearing at the ornate carvings, hands reaching to grasp the top.
▪ She felt his hands reach beneath her and grasp her gorgeous ripe melons.
seem
▪ Once again, no party except ours seems to have grasped this simple point or made any proposal to act on it.
▪ Yet the Marana council members are so unsophisticated they seem unable to grasp the full impact of their actions.
▪ Then she seemed to grasp what they were saying.
▪ Nor did he seem to grasp the peril that he was in.
▪ Only Ken Wilson seemed to have grasped the essentials of public argument.
▪ What is so sad is that through all the tinsel shines a reality, but we can not seem to grasp it.
▪ He didn't seem to grasp that we can hardly bury a head without a body.
▪ On the horizon is a field of view overgrown with nettles, which no one seems to want to grasp.
try
▪ He reached out wildly, trying to grasp the creature, but it had moved away.
▪ I try to grasp his leg, but it is hard to hold on.
▪ He was trying to grasp the events going on around him.
▪ He tried to grasp what he had been rehearsing but he seemed to have lost it.
▪ She was trying to grasp the radically changed situation with which she must come to terms.
▪ It looked as if Doyle was trying to grasp the sheet.
▪ My thoughts went round and round in circles, as I tried to grasp all the implications at once.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a firm grip/hold/grasp etc
▪ As darkness gains a firmer grip the songbirds fade and the owls start.
▪ As soon as one does so, its lips close around it, giving it a firm hold.
▪ But at current levels the shares are a firm hold.
▪ Choose a firm hold variant which will keep your style in place during winder weather and light drizzle.
▪ Clumps of sturdy weed grew wherever they could take a firm hold.
▪ I keep a firm grip on my hat and stare into the blustery abyss.
▪ It's safe but you need to have a firm grip to cut a 13-amp flex.
▪ Usually this happens because the task is too broadly stated to get a firm grasp on it.
be clutching/grasping at straws
▪ Green ponds should not be a problem now, but come next summer, you may be clutching at straws.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Fame has come suddenly, and Peyton is finding it hard to grasp.
▪ Obviously, she had barely grasped the subject.
▪ Science lessons should be taught in a way that makes the material easier to grasp.
▪ Taylor manages to explain technical ideas in a way that non-specialists can grasp.
▪ The army had failed to grasp that their mission was to protect the navy's ships, not vice versa.
▪ The handgrips should be shaped so that children can grasp them firmly.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ The right balance of detail should help the reader quickly grasp the nature of the problem and your approach to it.
▪ The toothed whales have a set of teeth which they use to grasp large and quick-moving prey, mainly squid or fish.
▪ They grasp at each other with numbed fingers for the comfort of touch.
▪ This was separated from the other digits, giving their owners the ability to grasp and manipulate objects.
▪ Though I have no trouble grasping its concepts, math continues to be difficult for me.
▪ Wexford grasped it in both his hands, raised it high and brought it down hard to meet the empty air.
▪ What is so sad is that through all the tinsel shines a reality, but we can not seem to grasp it.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
firm
▪ It remained his belief, though, that a firm grasp of wider realities would serve him well.
▪ Usually this happens because the task is too broadly stated to get a firm grasp on it.
▪ She handled Gilbert with a firm, no-nonsense grasp.
good
▪ Some cathedral organists have developed considerable liturgical flair and some have a good grasp of theology.
▪ She has the best grasp of the staggering task.
▪ Although some students have a good grasp of colloquial language, few have ever got to grips with the concept of register.
▪ Thus by the age of five years, children have a good grasp of the concept of intention.
▪ In most cases, therefore, what is required is a good general grasp of the topic.
■ VERB
show
▪ His technique shows a masterful grasp of the conventions of the philosophic dialogue perfected by Plato.
slip
▪ In Hampshire alone Gosport, Havant and Portsmouth all slipped from their grasp.
▪ Every solid fact slipped out of Blanche's grasp as soon as she believed she grasped it.
▪ While she was doing this, the child slipped from her grasp, and fell into the river where it was drowned.
▪ The government does not want them to slip beyond its grasp.
▪ He felt that things were loosening and slipping from his grasp.
▪ Although nominally in charge, control was slipping from his grasp.
▪ Long ago, he now realised, Nicholas had slipped from his grasp.
▪ The shot slipped from his grasp and nearly flattened the Head's wife.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a firm grip/hold/grasp etc
▪ As darkness gains a firmer grip the songbirds fade and the owls start.
▪ As soon as one does so, its lips close around it, giving it a firm hold.
▪ But at current levels the shares are a firm hold.
▪ Choose a firm hold variant which will keep your style in place during winder weather and light drizzle.
▪ Clumps of sturdy weed grew wherever they could take a firm hold.
▪ I keep a firm grip on my hat and stare into the blustery abyss.
▪ It's safe but you need to have a firm grip to cut a 13-amp flex.
▪ Usually this happens because the task is too broadly stated to get a firm grasp on it.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Cordell had an impressive grasp of military issues.
▪ Helen tightened her grasp on my collar and shouted ""Don't fool around with me, Mickey!''
▪ Recent moves have weakened his grasp on power.
▪ She tried to escape Moore's grasp but he was too strong for her.
▪ Some of the historical nuances are beyond the grasp of most children.
▪ Take a firm grasp on the rope.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But such a brash grasp for the moral high ground called for an answer.
▪ Can one doubt that such a tale is one of a tightening grasp of an actual reality?
▪ He had Hannele in mind and, he hoped, almost in his grasp.
▪ He now had Joe the Fish in his grasp, as he had sworn to himself that he would.
▪ He recognised him at once as Fouchard returned, trophy firmly in his grasp.
▪ His technique shows a masterful grasp of the conventions of the philosophic dialogue perfected by Plato.
▪ She seized the handle, but the impetus was too great, and it was wrenched from her convulsive grasp.
▪ Would anyone with a reasonable grasp on sanity even attempt something like this?
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Grasp

Grasp \Grasp\, v. i. To effect a grasp; to make the motion of grasping; to clutch; to struggle; to strive.

As one that grasped And tugged for life and was by strength subdued.
--Shak.

To grasp at, to catch at; to try to seize; as, Alexander grasped at universal empire,

Grasp

Grasp \Grasp\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grasper; p. pr. & vb. n. Qraspine.] [OE. graspen; prob. akin to LG. grupsen, or to E. grope. Cf. Grab, Grope.]

  1. To seize and hold by clasping or embracing with the fingers or arms; to catch to take possession of.

    Thy hand is made to grasp a palmer's staff.
    --Shak.

  2. To lay hold of with the mind; to become thoroughly acquainted or conversant with; to comprehend.

Grasp

Grasp \Grasp\, n.

  1. A gripe or seizure of the hand; a seizure by embrace, or infolding in the arms. ``The grasps of love.''
    --Shak.

  2. Reach of the arms; hence, the power of seizing and holding; as, it was beyond his grasp.

  3. Forcible possession; hold.

    The whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp.
    --Shak.

  4. Wide-reaching power of intellect to comprehend subjects and hold them under survey.

    The foremost minds of the next . . . era were not, in power of grasp, equal to their predecessors.
    --Z. Taylor.

  5. The handle of a sword or of an oar.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
grasp

mid-14c., "to reach for, feel around," possibly a metathesis of grapsen, from Old English *græpsan "to touch, feel," from Proto-Germanic *grap-, *grab- (cognates: East Frisian grapsen "to grasp," Middle Dutch grapen "to seize, grasp," Old English grapian "to touch, feel, grope"), from PIE root *ghrebh- (1) "to seize, reach" (see grab (v.)). Sense of "seize" first recorded mid-16c. Figurative use from c.1600; of intellectual matters from 1680s. Related: Grasped; grasping. The noun is from 1560s.

Wiktionary
grasp

n. 1 grip. 2 (senseid en understanding)understanding. 3 That which is accessible; that which is within one's reach or ability. vb. 1 To grip; to take hold, particularly with the hand. 2 (senseid en to understand)To understand.

Related phrases:
WordNet
grasp

  1. n. understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something; "he has a good grasp of accounting practices" [syn: appreciation, hold]

  2. the limit of capability; "within the compass of education" [syn: compass, range, reach]

  3. a firm controlling influence; "they kept a firm grip on the two top priorities"; "he was in the grip of a powerful emotion"; "a terrible power had her in its grasp" [syn: grip]

  4. the act of grasping; "he released his clasp on my arm"; "he has a strong grip for an old man"; "she kept a firm hold on the railing" [syn: clasp, clench, clutch, clutches, grip, hold]

  5. v. hold firmly [syn: hold on]

  6. get the meaning of something; "Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?" [syn: get the picture, comprehend, savvy, dig, compass, apprehend]

Wikipedia
Grasp (disambiguation)

A grasp generally refers to an act of taking, holding or seizing firmly with (or as if with) the hand.

Grasp or GRASP may refer to:

Software:

  • Graphics Animation System for Professionals, the first multimedia animation program for the IBM PC
  • GRASP (multimedia authoring software), a multimedia authoring software
  • Grasp (software), a spooler for DOS and DOS/VSE
  • GRASP (object-oriented design), General Responsibility Assignment Software Patterns (or Principles)
  • GRASP, the previous version of Jgrasp, a graphical source code editor
  • General Purpose Relativistic Atomic Structure Program, developed by Ian Grant and others for relativistic atomic structure calculations

Ships:

  • , a United States Navy rescue and salvage ship

  • , a United States Navy rescue and salvage ship

Other uses:

  • GRASP (SAT solver), an SAT instance solver
  • Glaciogenic Reservoir Analogue Studies Project, a collaborative project in glacially-related sedimentary systems
  • Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church or GraSP Church, an Episcopal church in Trenton, New Jersey, United States
  • Great Apes Survival Project
  • Greedy randomized adaptive search procedure
GRASP (SAT solver)

GRASP is a well known SAT instance solver. It was developed by João Marques Silva, a Portuguese computer science researcher. It stands for Generic seaRch Algorithm for the Satisfiability Problem.

Grasp

A grasp is an act of taking, holding or seizing firmly with (or as if with) the hand. An example of a grasp is the handshake, wherein two people grasp one of each other's like hands.

In zoology particularly, prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding.

Grasp (software)

GRASP was a systems software package that provided spooling facilities for the IBM/370 running DOS/VS or DOS/VSE environment, and IBM/360 running DOS or retrofitted with modified DOS.

GRASP (object-oriented design)

General responsibility assignment software patterns (or principles), abbreviated GRASP, consist of guidelines for assigning responsibility to classes and objects in object-oriented design.

The different patterns and principles used in GRASP are: controller, creator, indirection, information expert, high cohesion, low coupling, polymorphism, protected variations, and pure fabrication. All these patterns answer some software problem, and these problems are common to almost every software development project. These techniques have not been invented to create new ways of working, but to better document and standardize old, tried-and-tested programming principles in object-oriented design.

Computer scientist Craig Larman states that "the critical design tool for software development is a mind well educated in design principles. It is not the UML or any other technology." Thus, GRASP are really a mental toolset, a learning aid to help in the design of object-oriented software.

Usage examples of "grasp".

Smiling at her half-hearted invitation, Adonis grasped a bar in each hand and pried them apart.

Before she could do more than gasp in surprise, Adonis grasped her ankles and yanked her toward him, burying his mouth on her mound.

She was happy enough, to put my poor results down to my inability to grasp the subtlety of the Afrikaans language as well as being the youngest in class, whereas I already spoke Zulu and Shangaan and, like most small kids, found learning a new language simple enough.

It is no mere silliness, but a genuine effort of an early mind, which had just grasped the fact of the antipodes, to use it in explanation.

Only the bizarre antisexual psychology of liberals could fail to grasp the insanity of treating gender like race.

The junior lieutenant quickly moved away from the scope, and Krakov grasped the horizontal periscope grips somehow reassured by the feel of the antiskid etching on the cylindrical grips.

Hal grasped the glass Antonio offered and swirled the brandy in a slow circle.

He grasped hold of her finger, his mouth working as though he nursed even in his dreams.

Grasp the bar, out in the long swooping dive, tension in shoulder muscles as he swung up and over the bar, backswing, playing with it, diving, the long tumbling sense of free flight.

Their talons stretched and retracted, grasping the cookie fortunes that Balboa fed to them.

On its back the other beast bore a black warrior, plumed and befurred, grasping the reins in one hand and a feather-tufted spear in the other.

The Beothuk had never grasped the European concept of private property, so they were deemed to be a nation of thieves.

They were biaxially symmetric, possessing of a single cluster of sense organs mounted on a short, movable stalk, with two each grasping and locomotive appendages emanating from a thick torso.

When Birdy spoke aloud, his voice indicated that he did not grasp what Pug Hoffler had in mind.

Now at last it seemed as if Bithynia might fall into his grasp, for a year before, Socrates had come bleating to beg for asylum in Pontus, and had turned himself so thoroughly into a Mithridatic creature that the King decided he might safely be installed upon the Bithynian throne as a measure preliminary to outright invasion.