grip

• enPR: grĭp, IPA^(key): /ɡɹɪp/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -ɪp

Verb from Middle English grippen, from Old English grippan, from a Proto-Germanic *gripjaną (compare Old High German gripfen); compare the related Old English grīpan, whence English gripe. See also grope, and the related Proto-Germanic *grīpaną.

Noun from Middle English grippe, gripe, an amalgam of Old English gripe (“grasp, hold”) (cognate with German Griff) and Old English gripa (“handful”) (cognate with Swedish grepp).

grip (third-person singular simple present grips, present participle gripping, simple past and past participle gripped)

1. (transitive or intransitive) To take hold (of), particularly with the hand.

   That suitcase is heavy, so grip the handle firmly.

   Unfortunately the glue didn't grip, and the whole thing came apart.

   After a few slips, the tires gripped the pavement.

   "Grip tightly on the rope!" — "I'm gripping! I'm gripping!"

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.

2. (transitive) To figuratively take hold of or grasp.

   We need to grip this problem, not shut our eyes and hope it goes away.

3. (transitive) Of an emotion or situation: to have a strong effect upon.

   As the water level began to rise, I was gripped by panic.

   • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

     […] I lost something of the stifling fear that had gripped me, and could listen with more ease to what was going forward.

4. (transitive) To firmly hold the attention of.

   The movie gripped me from beginning to end.

• (take hold of): clasp, grasp; See also Thesaurus:grasp

grip (countable and uncountable, plural grips)

2. A hold or way of holding, particularly with the hand.

   It's good to have a firm grip when shaking hands.

   The ball will move differently depending on the grip used when throwing it.

3. (uncountable) Ability to resist slippage when pressed in contact with another object or surface.

   These tyres are worn out and don't have much grip.

5. A place to grip; a handle; the portion of a handle that the hand occupies.

   Near-synonym: handgrip

   There are several good grips on the northern face of this rock.

   The grip of a sword is part of its hilt.

6. A device, or a portion of one, that grasps or holds fast to something.

   The unthreaded portion of the bolt's shank is called the grip.

   2. An apparatus attached to a car (e.g., cable car, funicular car, mine car) for clutching a traction cable.
8. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (figurative) Assistance; help; encouragement.

   He gave me a grip.

10. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (figurative) Someone who is helpful, interesting, admirable, or inspiring.

    You're a real grip.

12. (figurative) Control, power, or mastery over someone or something; a tenacious grasp; a holding fast.

    We need to get a grip on these spiralling costs.

    in the grip of a blackmailer

    to strengthen one's grip on a company

    • 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

      Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.

    • 2016 June 22, Max Bearak, “The world’s longest-serving president just appointed his son as VP”, in The Washington Post‎^[1]:

      The current president toppled his uncle in a violent coup in 1979, before sentencing him to death by firing squad. Since then, he has consolidated his grip over the country's industries and is accused of diverting tax money into his personal accounts.

    • 2022 November 21, Barney Ronay, “Iran’s brave and powerful gesture is a small wonder from a World Cup of woe”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

      Instead England produced something that felt a little transgressive in this most controlled of stages, tightening their grip in a bruising first half, before freewheeling downhill in the second with their feet up on the handlebars.

13. (figurative) Mental grasp.

    He's losing his grip – he's practically senile.

    For God's sake man, stop panicking and get a grip of yourself!

14. A medium-sized bag or holdall for one's belongings, made of soft leather, canvas etc., and carried in the hand by two handles, one either side of the opening.
16. (graphical user interface) A visual component on a window etc. enabling it to be resized and/or moved by dragging with a mouse or finger.
18. (film or television production) A person responsible for handling equipment on the set.

    Hyponym: key grip

    Coordinate terms: gaffer, gofer

20. (slang) As much as one can hold in a hand; a handful.

    I need to get a grip of nails for my project.

22. (chiefly Southern California slang) A lot of something.

    That is a grip of cheese.

24. (chiefly Southern California slang) A long time.

    I haven't seen you in a grip.

26. Archaic spelling of grippe (“influenza”).

    She has the grip.

    • 1911, Theodore Dreiser, chapter XXXII, in Jennie Gerhardt‎^[3]:

      It so happened that, during a stretch of inclement weather in the fall, Lester was seized with a mild form of grip. When he felt the first symptoms he thought that his indisposition would be a matter of short duration, and tried to overcome it by taking a hot bath and a liberal dose of quinine. But the infection was stronger than he counted on; by morning he was flat on his back, with a severe fever and a splitting headache.

    • 1908, A.D. Condo, The Outbursts of Everett True‎^[4]:

      Grip! Grip!! The little touch of grip you had is no excuse for following the example of some of our "best citizens" who make every little ailment a pretext for dallying with the "demon"!!!!!

28. (archaic except rail transport) A small travelling-bag or gripsack.
    • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 35:

      'I put my grips against the communicating door last night'.

• (a lot of) hella, hecka

From Middle English grip, grippe, gryppe (“a ditch, drain”), from Old English grēp (“a furrow, burrow”) and grēpe (“a furrow, ditch, drain”), from Proto-Germanic *grōpiz (“a furrow, groove”). Cognate with Middle Dutch grippe, gruppe (“ditch, drain”), greppe, German Low German Gruppe (“ditch, drain”). Related also to Old English grōp (“a ditch, drain”). More at groop.

• gripe

grip (plural grips)

1. (dialectal) A small ditch or trench; a channel to carry off water or other liquid; a drain.
3. A channel cut through a grass verge, especially for the purpose of draining water away from the highway.

• gripple

grip (third-person singular simple present grips, present participle gripping, simple past and past participle gripped)

1. (dialectal) To trench; to drain.

• IGRP, PIRG, prig

Probably a modern loanword, from German Grippe.

grip m

1. flu, influenza

Borrowed from French grippe, from Frankish *grīpan (“to seize”), from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɡɾip]

• Audio:

  (file)

grip f (plural grips)

1. flu (influenza)

• “grip”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “grip”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “grip” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “grip” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from English grip.

• IPA^(key): /ɣrɪp/

• Audio:

  (file)

grip m (plural grippen, diminutive gripje n)

1. hold (to ensure control)

• greep
• griep
• grijpen
• begrip

From French grippe (“influenza”).

• IPA^(key): /ɡɣip/

grip

1. influenza, flu

grip

1. inflection of gripur:
   1. indefinite accusative singular
   2. indefinite dative singular

• gripa^[1]

Borrowed from French grippe (“influenza”).

grip f

1. (medicine) influenza, flu

grip

1. alternative form of gripe (“griffin”)

grip

1. alternative form of grippe

• gripe (Mooring)

From Old Frisian grīpa, from Proto-West Germanic *grīpan, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną.

• IPA^(key): [ɡrɪp]

grip

1. (Föhr-Amrum, Sylt) to grab, take, seize

grip

1. imperative of gripe

grip

1. inflection of gripa:
   1. present
   2. imperative

• IPA^(key): /ɡriːp/

grīp

1. singular imperative of grīpan

grip m (plural grips)

1. rock

• grȉpa (Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro)

grȉp m inan (Cyrillic spelling гри̏п)

1. (Serbia) flu, influenza

• IPA^(key): /ɡriːp/
• Rhymes: -iːp

grip c

1. a griffin (mythological beast)

   Gripen

   The Griffin (a fighter aircraft)

2. (in some compounds) a thing, a valuable

grip

1. imperative of gripa

• grip in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• grip in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• grip in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from French grippe.

• IPA^(key): /ɡɾip/

grip (definite accusative gripi, plural gripler)

1. (pathology) flu, influenza, grippe

• → Laz: გრიფი (gripi)

From Middle English gripe (“grip”, rarely "sharp pain"), from Old English gripe, from Proto-West Germanic *gripi, from Proto-Germanic *gripiz.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ɡrɪp/

grip (plural gripès)

1. A twinge; a sharp pain.^[2]