grapplen.
/ˈɡrap(ə)l/ I. An implement for grappling or laying hold.figurative and in extended use.1587 J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) Rudacke vii Ambition out sercheth to glory the greece, The staire to estate, the graple of grace.1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. viii. sig. T2v The monstrous Scorpion..With vgly craples crawling. View more context for this quotation1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) Ep. Ded. The petulant Crab-lice, with their grapples, wherewith they perpetually lance mans skin between the hair with their mouth, and stick on faster than Cockles do to the rocks.1667 Bp. J. Taylor 2nd Pt. Dissuasive from Popery i. vii. 207 Fear of the two deaths, which are the two arms and grapples of iron by which the Church of Rome takes and keeps her timorous, or consciencious, Proselytes.1712 R. Blackmore Creation ii. 102 The creeping Ivy, to prevent its Fall, Clings with its fib'rous Grapples to the Wall.1877 W. H. Thomson Five Years' Penal Servitude iii. 246 Anything she once put her grapples on she slipped inside.† 2. = grapnel n. 2 to be at a grapple: to be at anchor. Obsolete.† 3. = clamp n.1 1. Obsolete.
1. = grapnel n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > clutching or gripping equipment > [noun] > grappling-iron
grapper1485
grapple1530
dog1538
grappling-iron1538
clasp1552
grasper1553
grasple1553
graspler1553
harpagon1553
grappling1598
grappler1628
grapple-iron1661
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 574/1 I fasten two shyppes of warre togyther with a grappell, jagrappe.
1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergil Abridgem. Notable Worke iii. xi. 80 b Anacharsis..inuented the Grapull or Tacle of a ship.
1602 J. Clapham Hist. Eng. 100 They gaue an assault to the Wal it selfe, which with Grapples, and such like Engins they pulled downe to the ground.
1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 34 Still he thought he felt their craples teare Him by the heels backe to his ougly denne.
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico viii. 8 The enemie chasing him with Grapples in their hands, that is, long poles headed with iron hooks, or hooks at the end of long ropes.
1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Cymon & Iphigenia in Fables 551 But Cymon soon his crooked Grapples cast, Which with tenacious hold his Foes embrac'd.
1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. II. iii. 202 They likewise cast iron grapples, to throw on the enemy's works, and tear them away.
1842 T. Arnold Hist. Rome III. xlv. 287 The end of the lever, with an iron grapple affixed to it, was lowered upon the Roman ships.
1869 Echo 3 Feb. 2/2 He procured grapples, and brought it [sc. a dead body] to the bank.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > anchoring equipment > [noun] > anchor > grapnel
grapnel1373
grapple1623
grappling1626
1623 R. Whitbourne Disc. New-found-land 59 Two small Boates, Anchors and a small Grapple..were found in the Sea.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 81 A Grapple, that holds the long-Boat of a Ship.
1749 Acct. Voy. for Discov. North-west Passage II. 147 Off Sea Horse Point, where the Boat found a pretty Stream being at a Grapple.
1804 Naval Chron. 11 360 Cables, or chains, to which it is fixed by means of grapples, to prevent its drifting outwards.
1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia I. i. ii. 100 An iron grapple, or anchor, was discovered with one of these canoes.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > clutching or gripping equipment > [noun] > clamp
benda1250
clam1399
clamer1556
cramp1669
clamp1688
grapple1768
dog1833
shackle1838
Samson1842
1768 E. W. Montagu in Philos. Trans. 1767 (Royal Soc.) 57 441 I endeavoured with a..hanger to cut off a small piece of the grapple [used ‘to fasten or tie the shaft’ of a pillar ‘to the base’].
4.
a. A name given to various contrivances and implements for clutching and grasping.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > clutching or gripping equipment > [noun]
grapple1571
clamp1688
grip1857
gripper1857
grab1865
grapnel1875
1571 Dict. French & Eng. sig. A.iv/2 Vne Agraphe, a boucle of a girdle, a claspe, a brace, a grapple.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Grapple, a grasping tongs, used in various shapes and for many purposes.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 421/1 Grapple, a pair of claws grasping a beam or rafter as a means of suspension of a tackle for hoisting hay in a barn, or merchandise in a warehouse.
b. ‘A tool with spring jaws which are closed by striking the fish’ (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 1884).
ΚΠ
1872 Game Laws Maine in Fur, Fin & Feather (1872) 162 No person shall be allowed to take or catch any pickerel with spears, hooks or grapples.
II. [ < grapple v.]
5.
a. The action of grappling, or grappling with; the state of being grappled; the grip or close hold of a wrestler; a contest in which the combatants grip one another. Said also of immaterial contests.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun] > an act or instance of
flitec1000
strifea1225
wara1300
pulla1400
lakec1420
contenta1450
stour?c1450
contentiona1500
pingle1543
agony1555
feudc1565
combat1567
skirmish1576
grapple1604
counter-scuffle1628
scuffle1641
agon1649
tug1660
tug of war1677
risse1684
struggle1692
palaver1707
hash1789
warsle1792
scrabble1794
set-to1794
go1823
bucklea1849
wrestle1850
tussle1857
head-to-head1884
scrum1905
battleground1931
shoot-out1953
mud-wrestle1986
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > operations or manoeuvres > [noun] > attaching with grappling-irons
grappling1600
grapple1604
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > at close quarters > grappling
grapplement1590
grappling1600
grapple1604
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. vi. 17 In the grapple I boorded them. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 52 A bawbling Vessell was he Captaine of..With which such scathfull grapple did he make, With the most noble bottome of our Fleete, That [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 306 The variety of Graples a Christian hath for time.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 564 Antæus..oft foiled still rose..Fresh from his fall, and fiercer grapple joyn'd. View more context for this quotation
1701 C. Wooley Two Years Jrnl. N.-Y. 82 I..ordered him to fetch a kit full of water and discharge it at them, which immediately cool'd their courage, and loosed their grapples.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 173. ⁋1 The Knowledge of the Cornish Hug, as well as the Grapple.
1741–3 J. Wesley Extract of Jrnl. (1749) 14 An hour after I had one more grapple with the enemy, who then seem'd to collect all his strength.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxix. 119 One beneath his grasp lies prone, In mortal grapple over-thrown.
1836 J. Gilbert Christian Atonem. ii. 53 The grapple of a tiger, or the more sparing resolution of the elephant.
1841 E. Miall in Nonconformist 1 2 A final grapple with ecclesiastical tyranny.
1873 J. G. Holland Arthur Bonnicastle xviii. 278 Henry..in a fierce grapple with his antagonist, threw him.
1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors III. x. 203 Presently he was at quiet grapple with her mind.
1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders 222 I..longed to..come to grapples with a dozen Faas.
b. Applied to a friendly meeting, ? a hand-shake.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. vii. vii. 104 The burning desire of having a grapple with Phenicia.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
grapple-closing n.
ΚΠ
1851 E. B. Browning Casa Guidi Windows ii. xvii. 115 Those whom she-wolves suckle Will bite as wolves do, in the grapple-closing Of adverse interests.
C2.
grapple-iron n. = grappling-iron n. at grappling n. Compounds 2 (literal and figurative).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > naval weapons and equipment > [noun] > grappling-iron
grapnel1373
grapper1485
grappling-iron1538
clasp1552
grasper1553
harpagon1553
grappling1598
grappler1628
grapple-iron1661
wall-hook1681
society > occupation and work > equipment > clutching or gripping equipment > [noun] > grappling-iron
grapper1485
grapple1530
dog1538
grappling-iron1538
clasp1552
grasper1553
grasple1553
graspler1553
harpagon1553
grappling1598
grappler1628
grapple-iron1661
1661 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mech. (1682) ii. ii. 31 For I further demand how the Funiculus comes by such hooks or graple-irons to take fast hold.
1786 R. Burns Poems 86 Then heave aboard your grapple airn.
grapple-plant n. a South African herb, Uncaria (or Harpagophytum) procumbens, the fruit of which has many projecting claw-like hooks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > non-British plants or herbs > [noun] > African plants > other African plants
Hottentot fig1731
wait-a-bit1785
goat's foot1787
Strelitzia1789
aandblom1793
grapple-plant1822
tile-root1829
neb-neb1839
Cape tulip1850
bird-of-paradise flower1855
dimorphotheca1861
aandblommetjie1870
lithops1938
1822–4 W. J. Burchell Trav. Interior S. Afr. I. 536 The beautiful Uncaria procumbens, or Grapple-plant was not less abundant.
1893 J. T. Bent Ruined Cities Mashonaland 17 Lurking in the grass is the Grapple plant, the Harpagophytum procumbens.
grapple-shot n. a projectile attached to a cable, with hinged flukes which catch in the rigging of a ship in distress.
ΚΠ
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 421/1 Grapple shot.
grapple-wood n. some West Indian tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > South American and West Indian trees or shrubs > [noun] > unidentified, unspecified, or various
silver-wood1693
grapple-wood1750
brown-heart1796
singing tree1885
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 217 Grapple-wood. This shrubby tree hath a reddish-grey bark.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
grapplev.
/ˈɡrap(ə)l/ 1. reflexive.a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) i. ii. 31 He gave then his Gunners charge to shoot into the sailes, and to his Mariners to grapple themselves with the body of the ship.† b. To take hold of (the bottom) with a grapple or anchor. Also, to grapple hold.
a. transitive. To seize or hold (a ship, etc.) with a grapnel; to fasten to something with grappling-irons.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > operations or manoeuvres > perform operation or manoeuvre [verb (transitive)] > attach with grappling-irons
grape1523
grasple1553
grapple1599
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 574/1 Their shyppes were grappelled so faste togyther that one chaunce of fyre burned them bothe.
1599 in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. i. 168 The Gallies were grapled to the Centurion in this maner.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxvi. 614 They closed and grappled their ships together.
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 11 To grapple her, our fleet divided all night, but saw her not.
a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) i. i. 24 Iphidamantus ship..was grapled with a Turke.
1754 T. Gardner Hist. Acct. Dunwich 225 A fourth Fire Ship grappled him.
1774 Hutchins in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 65 132 A large piece of ice, to which the three ships were grappled.
1838 W. Ware Lett. from Palmyra II. xiv. 152 The bridge was in the very act of being thrown and grappled to the ramparts.
1849 G. Grote Hist. Greece VI. ii. xlvii. 84 The ships on both sides..were grappled together.
1859 C. M. Yonge Cameos xlviii, in Monthly Packet Jan. 37 The king wished to grapple this vessel, and take it.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > berthing, mooring, or anchoring > berth, moor, or anchor (a ship) [verb (transitive)] > anchor (a ship) > take hold of bottom with anchor
grapple1582
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis i. 5 Wheere sea tost nauye remayning Needs not too grapple thee sands with flooke of an anchor.
1825 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Wks. (1859) I. 82 To throw an anchor ahead, and grapple further hold for future advances of power.
c. figurative or with reference to what is immaterial: To fasten as with a grapple; to attach closely and firmly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > attach or affix [verb (transitive)] > attach firmly
gluec1384
strain1387
naila1522
grapple1603
barnacle1863
grip1886
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. iii. 63 Those friends thou hast, and their adoptions tried, Graple them to thee with a hoope of steele.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus i. 5 Fearfully sinne they against this example, who..craple and couple livings together.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iii. 0. 18 Follow, follow: Grapple your minds to sternage of this Nauie. View more context for this quotation
1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts in Wks. (1815) IV. 228 Never to be torn from thence, but with those holds that grapple it to life.
1853 F. D. Maurice Prophets & Kings Old Test. iv. 70 Let us grapple this faith to our inmost souls.
1887 J. Hutchison Lect. Philippians Pref. 7 Some abrupt but significant phrase at once grapples his argument upon the personal feelings of those to whom he writes.
d. To take up with a grapnel. rare.
ΚΠ
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. ii. 18 They've grappled up the body.
2. intransitive for reflexive. To fasten oneself firmly (to an object) by means of a grapple. Also figurative. (Cf. 8.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > be or become attached or affixed [verb (intransitive)] > attach oneself
cleavec1300
grapple1563
to catch on1868
1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. D.iiiv Death..Coms saylyng fast, in Galley blacke, and whan he spyes hym neare, Doth boorde hym strayght, & grapels fast And than begyns the fyght.
1748 Acct. Voy. for Discov. North-west Passage I. 42 The Piece of Ice we grappled to had a Pond upon it.
1861 P. Leys Mem. J. D. Maclaren viii. 51 Those elementary principles..had grappled to the heart of him, and conquered it.
3. intransitive. To ‘fish’ for with a grapnel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > make a search [verb (intransitive)] > search for something under water > in specific manner
grapple1799
trawl1861
1799 A. Burn Mem. (1816) iv. 189 When we had light and time to grapple for the cable.
4. figurative.1855 J. S. C. Abbott in Harper's New Monthly Mag. Jan. 178/1 The profundity of his doctrine, which grapples the mightiest difficulties.1894 C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 71 With the same purpose did the Dutchmen (1594–7) grapple the icy perils of the North-East Passage.
a. transitive. To take hold of (a person or thing) with the hands; to seize; to grip firmly; hence, to come to close quarters with.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > absence of movement > hold or holding > hold [verb (transitive)] > lay hold of or grasp
i-fangc888
gripc950
repeOE
befongOE
keepc1000
latchc1000
hentOE
begripec1175
becatchc1200
fang?c1200
i-gripea1225
warpa1225
fastenc1225
arepa1250
to set (one's) hand(s onc1290
kip1297
cleach?a1300
hendc1300
fasta1325
reachc1330
seizec1374
beclipc1380
takea1387
span1398
to seize on or upon1399
getc1440
handc1460
to catch hold1520
to take hold1530
to lay hold (up)on, of1535
grasple1553
to have by the backa1555
handfast1562
apprehend1572
grapple1582
to clap hold of1583
comprehend1584
graspa1586
attach1590
gripple1591
engrasp1593
clum1594
to seize of1600
begriple1607
fast hold1611
impalm1611
fista1616
to set (one's) hand to1638
to get one's hands on1649
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 62 Of my feloes I saw that a couple he grapled.
a1704 T. Brown Ess. Satire Ancients in Wks. (1730) I. 23 As Horace is a true Proteus..they have..grappled him as well as they could.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 269 He grappled the Pagan, and dragg'd him by main Force, out of their own Boat into ours.
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck ii. 26 In vain, to grapple pendent ropes they try.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. iv. 560 Man grapples man.
1830 H. Crow Mem. 233 Uttering a loud yell of triumph, [they] grappled the poor fellow as their prisoner of war.
1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches viii. 275 Grappling its antagonist by the throat with its fore-paws.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. vi 165 Whatever she grappled she would never let go.
1898 A. H. S. Landor In Forbidden Land II. lxxxii. 131 The soldiers..grappling me, and lifting me bodily off my feet.
b. To snatch up. rare.
ΚΠ
1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 111 They fly about to grapple up a kind of chalky clay, to paint themselves white.
c. poetic. To fasten in the grip of irons. rare.
ΚΠ
1850 E. B. Browning tr. Æschylus Prometheus Bound (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 142 Here's an arm, at least, Grappled past freeing.
5. intransitive. To take a firm hold, as with a grapple, esp. in wrestling; to get a tight grip of another; to contend with another in close fight. Also with together. (Cf. 8b.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > absence of movement > hold or holding > hold or grip [verb (intransitive)] > lay hold > firmly
to fasten hold1581
grapple1582
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight [verb (intransitive)] > fight at close quarters > grapple
buckle1535
strangle1595
ingrapple1599
grapple1825
clinch1828
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 34 With righthands grapling thee tops of turret ar holden.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. iv. sig. D6v As two wild Boares together grapling go. View more context for this quotation
1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Maides Trag. v. sig. K1 Your Grace and I Must grapple vpon euen tearmes no more.
1644 J. Milton Of Educ. 7 To tugge, to grapple, and to close.
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite iii, in Fables 51 Greyhounds,..A Match for Pards in flight, in grappling, for the Bear.
1709 R. Steele & J. Swift Tatler No. 70 A large French Mongrel..when he grapples, bites even to the Marrow.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 271 They drew up—made play..grappled anew.
1858 J. Doran Hist. Court Fools 338 They grappled and commenced wrestling.
6. † b. To mount up by clutching or grasping.
a. To make movements with the hands, as if to grasp some object: to grope. Const. after, at, for, to. Also with about adv. rare (? Obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > touching > touching with the hand > touch or feel with the hand [verb (transitive)] > stretch hand out to touch
stretchc1390
grapple1596
1596 T. Lodge Margarite of Amer. sig. N He grapled about the floore among the dead bodies.
1743 E. Young Complaint: Night the Fourth 21 Is Praise the Perquisite of every Paw, Tho' black as Hell, that grapples well for Gold?
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 191 I kept aloof, however, for fear he should grapple at me, and sink us both together.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake vi. 247 Fierce was their speech, and, mid their words, Their hands oft grappled to their swords.
1815 He must be married ii. ii Modesty! is it that you would be grapling after?
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > ascend (something) [verb (transitive)] > climb up or scale > climb by clasping with legs and arms
climbc1275
swarm15..
grapple1598
swarvea1650
swarm1668
shin1891
leg1893
1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus Annales i. xiv. 27 They..grappled vp to the toppe of the trench [L. summa valli prensant].
7. Manège (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II To Grapple [with Horsemen] is when a Horse lifts up one or both his Legs at once, and raises them with Precipitation, as if he were a curveting.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) A Horse is said to grapple with one, or both Legs, when he catches, or raises 'em more hastily, and higher than ordinarily, as if he were curvetting.
8. to grapple with
a. Nautical. To make one's ship fast to (an enemy) with grappling-irons; to come to close quarters with.
ΚΠ
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 61 Metaneone..hastened to grapple with the Galley.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 283 Laid us on board, and grappled with us on the Starboard side.
1759 D. Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) IV. lxv. 808 He sunk three fire-ships, which endeavoured to grapple with him.
a1781 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip III (1783) ii. 92 As the Dutch..could navigate their ships with greater dexterity, they were enabled to avoid grappling with the Spaniards.
1868 E. Edwards Life Sir W. Ralegh I. vii. 111 To advise the..Admiral..to grapple with the enemy's ships and board them.
b. To grip as in wrestling; to seize with hands and arms; to close with bodily.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight with [verb (transitive)] > fight at close quarters > grapple with
graspa1586
to grapple with1624
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia iii. x. 84 The President prevented his shoot by grapling with him.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 13. ¶3 He would fall at the first Touch of Hydaspes, without grappling with him.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. v. 311 The undefended youth Sprung forward..And grappled with him breast to breast.
1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh III. 253 Some one was grappling with Milo [a bloodhound].
1880 J. E. Harting Brit. Animals Extinct i. 19 As the animal rose to grapple with the dogs.
1883 J. A. Froude Short Stud. IV. i. x. 124 He grappled with Tracy and flung him to the ground.
c. To encounter hand to hand; to battle or struggle with.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight with [verb (transitive)] > fight at close quarters
to get within ——1523
to grapple witha1616
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > contending in battle > fight (a battle, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > contend with
acounterc1330
bargainc1375
battlec1399
rencontre1455
field1529
pallc1540
cope with1582
combata1592
to grapple witha1616
to give against ——1646
fight1697
contest1764
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. i. 257 Then will I..in my Standard beare the Armes of Yorke, To grapple with the house of Lancaster. View more context for this quotation
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. xviii. 129 Some of them fear not to encounter..and to graple in the rivers..with Crocodiles.
1850 H. T. Cheever Whale & his Captors xi. 168 I..saw with horror one of our men..grappling with the waves.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. v. 316 The valiant burghers..had already learned to grapple with the Dane on his own element.
d. figurative or with reference to immaterial things.
ΚΠ
1631 S. Jerome Arraignem. Whole Creature xiii. §1. 168 We will come (as in a Land, or Sea-fight) to grapple and gripe, with Vanities.
a1688 J. Bunyan Dying Sayings in Wks. (1767) I. 48 Who can..grapple with the wrath of God?
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. viii. 374 This is usually a power too mighty for reason to grapple with.
1827 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone (new version) ii, in Poet. Wks. IV. 28 I,..Presumed to grapple with their scorn.
e. esp. To try to overcome (a difficulty, etc.); to try to accomplish, take in hand (a task, etc.); to try to deal with (a question, etc.); to try to solve (a problem, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > attempt [verb (transitive)] > strive or struggle against difficulties
deal1469
gripple1591
cope with1641
contend1783
strive1786
to grapple with1830
1830 J. W. Croker in Croker Papers 10 May (1884) II He did not at all grapple with the real question.
1863 D. Wilson Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. (ed. 2) I. i. ii. 51 Science grapples with such startling phenomena.
1865 W. Pengelly in H. Pengelly Mem. W. Pengelly (1897) xi. 170 I am glad to find you are grappling with the question.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xxxvi. 3 The new historical school..will doubtless grapple with this task.
Derivatives
ˈgrappling adj.
ΚΠ
1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 lxxxiv. 52 Two grapling Ætna's on the Ocean meet, And English fires with Belgian flames contend.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 307 Antæus here and stern Alcides strive, And both the grappling Statues seem to live.
1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision III. xxvi. 54 All grappling bonds, that knit the heart to God, Confederate to make fast our charity.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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