grip
pronunciation
How to pronounce grip in British English:
UK [ɡrɪp]
How to pronounce grip in American English:
US [ɡrɪp]
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- Noun:
- the act of grasping
- the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it
- a portable rectangular traveling bag for carrying clothes
- the friction between a body and the surface on which it moves (as between an automobile tire and the road)
- worker who moves the camera around while a film or television show is being made
- a firm controlling influence
- a flat wire hairpin whose prongs press tightly together; used to hold bobbed hair in place
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- Verb:
- hold fast or firmly
- to grip or seize, as in a wrestling match
- to render motionless, as with a fixed stare or by arousing terror or awe
Word Origin
- grip
- grip: [OE] Grip comes from a prehistoric Germanic verb *gripjan, derived from a base *grip-. Variants of this base produced gripe [OE] (which originally meant simply ‘grasp’), grope [OE], and possibly also grab. French borrowed it as gripper ‘seize’, from which English gets the now obsolete grippe ‘flu’ [18].=> grab, gripe, grope
- grip (v.)
- Old English grippan "to grip, seize, obtain" (class I strong verb; past tense grap, past participle gripen), from West Germanic *gripjan (cognates: Old High German gripfen "to rob," Old English gripan "to seize;" see gripe (v.)). Related: Gripped; gripping. French gripper "to seize," griffe "claw" are Germanic loan-words.
- grip (n.)
- c. 1200, "act of grasping or seizing; power or ability to grip," fusion of Old English gripe "grasp, clutch" and gripa "handful, sheaf" (see grip (v.)). Figurative use from mid-15c. Meaning "a handshake" (especially one of a secret society) is from 1785. Meaning "that by which anything is grasped" is from 1867. Meaning "stage hand" is from 1888, from their work shifting scenery.
Synonym
Example
- 1. This tightens its grip over the e-book market .
- 2. Its grip on the top spot looks strong .
- 3. His administration is trapped more and more in the paralysing grip of special-interest groups .
- 4. The species may have been a toolmaker , as its hand allowed for a human-like grip .
- 5. This gives humans a powerful grip and exceptional dexterity to hold and manipulate tools with .