gelæccan

From ge- +‎ læċċan.

ġelæċċan

1. to grab (sometimes violently: snatch, catch, apprehend)

   Iċ wille wyrd ġelæċċan be þǣre þrotan.

   I want to seize fate by the throat.

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Clement the Martyr"

     Þā sē enġel ġelǣhte hine be þām feaxe and hine bær tō Babylōne.

     Then the angel grabbed him by the hair and carried him to Babylon.

   • Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Manuscript E, year 1009

     Hē wolde Wulnōþ ġelæċċan cwicne oþþe dēadne.

     He wanted to take Wulnoth dead or alive.

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "St. Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome"

     Þæs cāseres hēahġerēfa Germānus ġelǣhte þone pistol æt Gregories ǣrendracan and hine tōtær.

     The emperor's prefect Germanus snatched the letter out of Gregory's messenger's hand and tore it to pieces.

2. to pick up food
3. to catch a disease
4. to comprehend

• Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ge-læccan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ge-læccan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ge-læccan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.