Definition of "grab"

grab¹

/ɡɹæb/

verb
third-person singular simple present grabs, present participle grabbing, simple past and past participle grabbed
1. (transitive) To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
  Quotations
  Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.
  1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
2. (intransitive) To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
3. To restrain someone; to arrest.
4. (transitive) To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.
  Quotations
  Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab meToday I need something more substantial
  1992, “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite”, in Automatic for the People, performed by R.E.M.
5. (informal) To quickly collect, retrieve, or take.
  Quotations
  "I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.
  1987, James Grady, Just a Shot Away, Bantam, page 117
  Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse."
  1999, Jillian Dagg, Racing Hearts, Thomas Bouregy & Co., page 105
  He looked at Albert and Ben, and then back to Nurse Allen. "I'll just grab my gear and be right back."
  2009, Mike Taylor, A Thousand Sleeps,, Tate Publishing, page 216
6. (informal) To consume something quickly.
7. To take the opportunity of.
  Quotations
  Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the London side who did grab what proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards.
  2012 May 19, Paul Fletcher, “Blackpool 1-2 West Ham”, in BBC Sport
noun
countable and uncountable, plural grabs
1. (countable) A sudden snatch at something.
  Quotations
  The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.
  1931 April, Harold M. Sherman, “The Baseball Clown”, in Boys' Life, volume 21, number 4, Boy Scouts of America, page 47
  He made a grab for me and I swung my handbag at him as hard as I could.
  2003, J Davey, Six Years of Darkness, Trafford Publishing, page 66
2. (countable) An acquisition by violent or unjust means.
3. (countable) A mechanical device that grabs or clutches.
  Quotations
  Almost all modern cranes are electrically operated and a quick-acting type of 30 cwt. capacity is suitable for general cargo, but not powerful enough to operate grabs for discharge of bulk cargoes.
  1945 January and February, T. F. Cameron, “Dock Working”, in Railway Magazine, page 11
  1. A device for withdrawing drills, etc., from artesian and other wells that are drilled, bored, or driven.
4. (countable, media) A sound bite.
  Quotations
  For example, one radio bulletin may feature one central issue, like a state election, and will focus on that issue. The bulletin might contain only a few voice wraps but many grabs, leaving the focus firmly on the newsreader.
  2008, Melissa Agnew, Here is the (Australian) News
5. (obsolete) That which is seized.
6. (uncountable) A simple card game.

grab²

/ɡɹæb/

noun
plural grabs
1. A two- or three-masted vessel used on the Malabar coast.

Definition of "grab"

grab1

verb

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noun

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grab2

noun

grab¹

grab²