Meanings
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1
verb
To take hold of something suddenly and firmly.
I grabbed her hand to pull her back from the edge.
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2
verb
To quickly take or get something.
Let's grab a sandwich before the train leaves.
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3
verb
To make a sudden movement to take hold of something.
The passenger grabbed for the oxygen mask.
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4
verb
To strongly attract someone's attention or interest.
The opening scene of the film really grabs you.
Thesaurus
Common collocations
Etymology
From Middle Dutch grabben or Middle Low German grabben (“to grasp, grab, seize, snatch”), from Old Saxon gravan, from Proto-West Germanic *grabbōn, a secondary form of Proto-Germanic *grabōną (“to gather, rake”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to gather, rake, grab, seize”). Related to archaic German grappen (“to grab”), Danish grabbe (“to grab”), Swedish grabba (“to grab”), Old Norse grápa (“to seize, appropriate”), Middle English grappen (“to feel, grope, grasp, clutch”), Old English ġegræppian (“to seize”). Related also to Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇā́ti), गृभ्णाति (gṛbhṇā́ti, “he seizes”)…