grasping

UK: /ˈgrɑːspɪŋ/ US: /ˈgræspɪŋ/ ,(gras′ping, gräs′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

grasp•ing /ˈgræspɪŋ/   adj. 

1. greedy;
   grabbing;
   avaricious.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

grasp•ing  (gras′ping, gräs′-), adj. 

1. greedy;
   avaricious:
   a sly, grasping man.
2. being used to grasp or tending to grasp;
   tenacious.

• grasp + -ing² 1540–50

grasp′ing•ly, adv. 
grasp′ing•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. . covetous, selfish, acquisitive, venal.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

grasping / ˈɡrɑːspɪŋ/ adjective

1. greedy; avaricious; rapacious

ˈgraspingly adverb

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

grasp /græsp/   v. 

1. to seize and hold by or as if by clasping with the fingers or arms:
   [~ + object] She grasped my arm and pulled me aside.
2. to attempt seizing:
   [~ + for/at + object] The baby grasped at the bottle.
3. to comprehend;
   understand:
   [~ + object] I grasp your meaning.

n. [countable* usually singular]

4. the act of grasping.
5. reach;
   attainment;
   control:
   [within one's + ~] The new promotion was within his grasp.
6. power to understand:
   has a good grasp of math.

grasp•a•ble, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

grasp  (grasp, gräsp), v.t. 

1. to seize and hold by or as if by clasping with the fingers or arms.
2. to seize upon;
   hold firmly.
3. to get hold of mentally;
   comprehend;
   understand:
   I don't grasp your meaning.

v.i. 

4. to make an attempt to seize, or a motion of seizing, something (usually fol. by at or for):
   a drowning man grasping at straws; to grasp for an enemy's rifle.

n. 

5. the act of grasping or gripping, as with the hands or arms:
   to make a grasp at something.
6. a hold or grip:
   to have a firm grasp of a rope.
7. one's arms or hands, in embracing or gripping:
   He took her in his grasp.
8. one's power of seizing and holding;
   reach:
   to have a thing within one's grasp.
9. hold, possession, or mastery:
   to wrest power from the grasp of a usurper.
10. mental hold or capacity;
    power to understand.
11. broad or thorough comprehension:
    a good grasp of computer programming.

• 1350–1400; Middle English graspen, grapsen; cognate with Low German grapsen; akin to Old English gegræppian to seize (see grapple)

grasp′a•ble, adj. 
grasp′er, n. 
grasp′less, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1. grip, clutch; grab. See catch. 
• 9. clutches.
• 10. scope, comprehension.
  Grasp, reach refer to the power of seizing, either concretely or figuratively.
  Grasp suggests actually seizing and closing the hand upon something (or, figuratively, thoroughly comprehending something) and therefore refers to what is within one's possession or immediate possibility of possession:
  a good grasp of a problem; immense mental grasp.
  Reach suggests a stretching out of (usually) the hand to touch, strike, or, if possible, seize something; it therefore refers to a potentiality of possession that requires an effort. Figuratively, it implies perhaps a faint conception of something still too far beyond one to be definitely and clearly understood.

Antonyms

• 1. release.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

grasp / ɡrɑːsp/ verb

1. to grip (something) firmly with or as if with the hands
2. when intr, often followed by at: to struggle, snatch, or grope (for)
3. (transitive) to understand, esp with effort

noun

1. the act of grasping
2. a grip or clasp, as of a hand
3. total rule or possession
4. understanding; comprehension

Etymology: 14th Century: from Low German grapsen; related to Old English græppian to seize, Old Norse grāpa to steal

ˈgraspable adjective

ˈgrasper noun