GRAPPLE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Grapple

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/grˈæpəl/ Listen

verb

Grapple v. t. (past & past part. grappled; pres. part. grappling)

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

To fasten, as with a grapple; to fix; to join indissolubly. "The gallies were grappled to the Centurion." "Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel."

Grapple v. i. To use a grapple; to contend in close fight; to attach one's self as if by a grapple, as in wrestling; to close; to seize one another.

To grapple with, to enter into contest with, resolutely and courageously. "And in my standard bear the arms of York, To grapple with the house of Lancaster."

noun

Grapple n.

A seizing or seizure; close hug in contest; the wrestler's hold.

(a)

An instrument, usually with hinged claws, for seizing and holding fast to an object; a grab.

(b)

(Naut.) A grappling iron. "The iron hooks and grapples keen."

Grapple plant (Bot.), a South African herb (Herpagophytum leptocarpum) having the woody fruits armed with long hooked or barbed thorns by which they adhere to cattle, causing intense annoyance.

Grapple shot (Life-saving Service), a projectile, to which are attached hinged claws to catch in a ship's rigging or to hold in the ground; called also anchor shot.

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Etymology of 'Grapple'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Grapple" Quotes from Famous Books

... answer to that is, reduce internal revenue taxation until the present surplus is exhausted, and then endeavor so to arrange your tariff that you will not produce more than you need. I think the easiest question to grapple with on this earth is a ...

— The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Volume VIII. - Interviews • Robert Green Ingersoll

... proceeding of Sonny's was a fine game. He would grapple with the dog, hug him, pound him gleefully with his little fists, and call him every pet ...

— The House in the Water - A Book of Animal Stories • Charles G. D. Roberts

... It was up to me to get ready the testing apparatus—we generally set up special instruments for testing. Judging by the distance, the ship should have been over the break early this morning. She will grapple for the broken cable ends, and as soon as she catches our end she'll send us a message. It's ...

— Cap'n Eri • Joseph Crosby Lincoln

... not a mood with which the ocean cannot link itself, nor a problem to which it cannot hint, albeit darkly, a solution. To attempt a description of its external phenomena were a hardy task—much more to grapple with its protean influences on the souls ...

— Nature Mysticism • J. Edward Mercer

... seized me across the chest. A loud ringing noise sounded in my ears. Struggling madly for breath, and with the fear of impending death upon me, I turned and tried to run from a danger I could neither understand nor grapple with. But before I had taken two steps my legs gave way from under me, and uttering a loud cry I fell ...

— A Master of Mysteries • L. T. Meade

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