Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Grasping |
GraspingAdjective1. Immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth; "they are avaricious and will do anything for money"; "casting covetous eyes on his neighbor's fields"; "a grasping old miser"; "grasping commercialism"; "greedy for money and power"; "grew richer and greedier"; "prehensile employers stingy with raises for their employees". Noun1. Understanding with difficulty; "the lecture was beyond his most strenuous graspings". 2. The act of gripping something firmly with the hands. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "grasping" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Acquiring the part by deformable, roundish fingers, with sensors mounted on their surfaces. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: GraspingSynonyms: avaricious (adj), covetous (adj), grabby (adj), greedy (adj), prehensile (adj), prehension (n), seizing (n), taking hold (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Greed | Grasping, craving,grasping, craving, canine appetite, rapacity. |
Adjective: greedy, avaricious, covetous, acquisitive, grasping; rapacious; lickerish. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Grasping |
| English words defined with "grasping": avaricious ♦ ceratosaur, ceratosaurus, chelicera, Cheliform, clasp, Clasper, clench, climb, clutch, clutches, covetous ♦ grab, grabby, grapnel, grapple, grappler, grappling hook, grappling iron, grasp, greedy, grip ♦ handclasp, handshake, handshaking, hold ♦ insight ♦ Lancashire style wrestling ♦ mantis crab, mantis shrimp, Mushroom anchor ♦ Pesent arms, Pinchers, prehensile ♦ rapacious, ravening ♦ shake, sixth sense, snatch, suckling reflex ♦ tackle, tentacle ♦ voracious. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "grasping": carpenter's hands ♦ dual hand ♦ Hand Strength, hydraulic-jack operator ♦ Mahath ♦ Nuts ♦ Opportunity ♦ plate tongs ♦ service tester, software patent, Sunday Saint, Symbols of Saints ♦ tool extractor, track-laying-machine operator, TRACK-MOVING-MACHINE OPERATOR ♦ VOLTAGE TESTER. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "grasping": Clever. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I think you are despicable, greedy, grasping, and wholly without principle or pity (Herbie Rides Again; writing credit: Gordon Buford; Bill Walsh) | |
Movie/TV Titles | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Ezra, grasping the box, shrieked hysterically. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Frederick A. Cook, lying in hospital bed following a stroke, grasping the arm of Ralph Shainwald von Ahlefeldt who brought news of Cook's pardon by President Roosevelt. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Aesop | Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. |
Buddha | Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned. |
George Bancroft | Dishonesty is so grasping it would deceive God himself, were it possible. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Tangled Tale | Carroll, Lewis | It is a dreamy remark, making one feel something like Macbeth grasping at the spectral dagger |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | At those hours especially when we have sorest need of grasping the sharp realities of life do the threads of thought snap off in the brain |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | He halted on the landing before the door and then, grasping the porcelain knob, opened the door quickly |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | If your fingers are numb, be very careful when grasping objects that are sharp, hot, or otherwise dangerous. (references) | |
Hands are sometimes clasped behind the back or held at the sides, with random touching, grasping, and releasing. (references) | ||
Grasping the tip of the tongue with a piece of gauze will assist full protrusion and will aid examination of the more posterior aspects of the tongue's lateral borders. (references) | ||
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | OPPORTUNITY, n. A favorable occasion for grasping a disappointment. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Grasping" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 84.52% of the time. "Grasping" is used about 323 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 84.52% | 273 | 17,765 |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 15.17% | 49 | 48,677 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.31% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 323 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "grasping": grasping distance. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
grasping task | 3 |
grasping | 3 |
grasping reflex | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "grasping"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | makut (Edacious, esurient, gluttonous, greedy, mingy, miser, open mouthed, pecker, piggish, rapacious, voracious), koprrac (avaricious, cheese paring, churl, clam, close-fisted, curmudgeon, curmudgeonly, griping, mean, mingy, miser, money grubber, money-grubbing, muckworm, narrow, near, rapacious, saving, screwy, scrimp, sharpener, skin, skinflint, stingy, tight-fisted, tightwad, turn-penny), dorështrënguar (avaricious, careful, close-fisted, large handed, mean, mingy, miserly, muckworm, parsimonious, penny-pinching, penurious, rapacious, saving, scrimp, skinflint, snippy, tight, tight-fisted). (various references) | |
Arabic | طماع (avid, greedy, kidnapper, predatory, pushing, rapacious, ravening), جشع (an itching palm, avarice, avaricious, avidity, cupidity, greed, greedy, mercenary, predatory, rapacious, rapacity, ravening), بشع (atrocious, grievous, gruesome, hideous, homely, horrid, shapeless, ugly, ungainly, unhandsome, unpleasant, unsightly). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | ненаситен (avid, covetous, craving, greedy, insatiable, insatiate, ravenous, sateless, slakeless, voracious), алчен (accumulative, acquisitive, avid, covetous, eager, gloating, having, miserly, moneygrubbing, rapacious, sordid), лаком (avid, esurient, gourmand, greedy, gutsy, hoggish, lickerish, openmouthed, piggish, ravenous, voracious). (various references) | |
Chinese | 掌握 (GRASP, mastered, mastering). (various references) | |
Czech | lakomý (avaricious, mean, miserly, parsimonious, stingy, tightfisted), hrabivý (avaricious, greedy, mercenary, rapacious), chamtivý (avaricious, covetous, greedy, rapacious). (various references) | |
Danish | gribe (clutch, get, grab, grasp, grip, lay hold of, pick up, seize, take). (various references) | |
Dutch | grijpen (clutch, grab, grasp, grip, seize). (various references) | |
Finnish | tarttuminen (blocking, sticking). (various references) | |
French | saisie, empoignant, cupide (greedily, greedy), avide (greedy), avare (greedy), étreignant. (various references) | |
German | zupackend (gripping, hard-hitting, straightforward, vigorous), packend (clutching, enthralling, grappling, gripping, Packing, thrilling). (various references) | |
Greek | κερδομανής, σύλληψη (apprehension, arestment, arrest, capture, catch, conception, prehension, seizure), πιάσιμο (bite, fastening, grapple, grasp, grip, hold), πλεονέκτησ (greedy), φιλοκερδήσ (greedy of pain), αρπακτικόσ (curmudgeon, predaceous, predacious, predatory, rapacious, raptorial, ravening, ravenous, ravishing, vulturous). (various references) | |
Hebrew | או"ב כסף (greedy, mercenary), רו"ף בצע (greedy, mercenary). (various references) | |
Hungarian | kapzsi (acquisitive, avaricious, avariciously, avid, covetous, eager for gain, extortionate, greedy, have an itching palm, rapacious). (various references) | |
Indonesian | tamak (acquisitive, avarice, greedy, rapacious). (various references) | |
Italian | presa (bite, capture, catching, clam, clamp, clutch, grab, grasp, grip, hand-grip, hold, holdfast, intake, mesh, outlet, pinch, purchase, seizing, seizure, snatch, taking, tap), avido (acquisitive, athirst, avid, covetous, eager, greedy, hungry, thirsty, voracious), avaro (avaricious, close, greedy, hard-fisted, mean, mingy, miser, miserly, near, penurious, skinflint, stingy, tight, tightfisted, tightwad). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 掌握 (holding, seizing). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | しゅうら" (looking all around, winning over), しょうあく (holding, seizing), はそく, てづかみ (seizing). (various references) | |
Korean | 장악 (Obtaining, Securing). (various references) | |
Manx | sayntagh (acquisitive, avaricious, covetous, hungry as eye; too deep, hungry; too deep, lustful), greimmagh (clutching, gripping, snappy, sticky). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | aspinggray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | ganancioso (acquisitive, greedy, rapacious), unha-de-fome (tightwad), sfrego, vido (greedy, hard set, hungry). (various references) | |
Romanian | zgârcit (accumulator, avaricious, cheese paring, churlish, clenched, close, close-fisted, close-handed, costive, covetous, curmudgeon, hunks, illiberal, iron-fisted, mean, miser, miserly, money grubber, muckworm, parsimonious, penny father, penny-wise, penurious, screw, skimpy, skin, skinflint, sparing, stingy, tight), rãpitor (charming, predacious, predatory, rapacious, rapturous, ravishing), hrãpãreţ (grabbing, seizing, wolfish), avar (accumulative, avaricious, churl, churlish, close, close-fisted, miser, miserly, money grubber, muckworm, penurious, screw, stingy), arghirofil (Cupid, lover of money, money grubber, rapacious, usurer), apucãtor (greedy), acaparator (absorbing, accumulator, acquisitive, buyer-up, covetous, engrossing, food hoarder, forestalling, grabber, greedy, money making, money-grabbing, monopolizer, predatory), acaparat (absorbing, greedy). (various references) | |
Russian | цепкий (clingy, prehensile, retentive, tenacious), жадный (avaricious, avid, covetous, edacious, esurient, glutton, greedy, hoggish, insatiable, large-handed, locust, mingy, open mouthed, piggish, rapacious, ravenous, sharp-set, voracious). (various references) | |
Scottish | rugadh (a greedy grasping of anything, born, was caught). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | grabljiv (predacious, predatory, rapacious, ravenous, vulturous), grabežljiv (large handed, moneygrubbing, raptorial). (various references) | |
Spanish | avaro (avaricious, close-fisted, grasper, grudging, miser, miserly, money grubber, money-grubbing, parsimonious, penurious, scrimpy, tight-fisted, tightwad). (various references) | |
Swedish | fattande (collecting, conceiving). (various references) | |
Turkish | gözü aç (greedy, insatiable, ravenous), doyumsuz (avid, greedy, insatiable), açgözlü (acquisitive, avid, covetous, esurient, grabber, greedy, hoggish, insatiable, open mouthed, piggish, piglike, rapacious, ravenous, voracious, vulturine, vulturous, wolfish). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | чіпкий (retentive, tenacious), кмітливий (acute, alert, apprehensive, clever, cute, dexterous, intelligent, nimble, nimble-witted, quick, ready-witted, sagacious), жадібний (acquisitive, avaricious, avid, covetous, edacious, esurient, greedy, open mouthed, piggish, rapacious). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | giữ chặt tham lam, nắm chặt, keo cú (close-fisted, graspingly, hard, penurious). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | conprehensione, rapaces, rapax, tenax. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "grasping": graspingly, graspingness, graspingnesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Grasping" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: egrapsen, graspen. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "grasping" (pronounced gra"sping) |
| 5 | -a" s p i ng | gasping. |
| 3 | -p i ng | antidumping, aping, backslapping, beeping, bleeping, bookkeeping, bumping, burping, camping, capping, carping, Chipping, chirping, chomping, chopping, clamping, clapping, clipping, clumping, coping, copping, cramping, creeping, crimping, cropping, damping, developing, dipping, draping, dripping, drooping, dropping, dumping, eavesdropping, enveloping, equipping, escaping, flapping, flipping, flopping, galloping, gaping, gossiping, griping, gripping, groping, grouping, gulping, handicapping, harping, heaping, helping, hoping, hopping, housekeeping, hyping, jumping, keeping, kidnaping, kidnapping, lamping, landscaping, lapping, leaping, limping, lopping, lumping, mapping, moping, mopping, napping, nipping, outstripping, overlapping, overstepping, peacekeeping, peeping, pimping, piping, popping, prepping, propping, pulping, pumping, ramping, raping, rapping, reaping, recapping, recouping, regrouping, reshaping, revamping, ripping, romping, roping, safekeeping, sapping, scalping, scooping, scoping, scraping, scrapping, scrimping, seeping, shaping, shipping, shopping, sidestepping, sipping, skimping, skipping, slapping, sleeping, slipping, sloping, slumping, snapping, sniping, snooping, sopping, stamping, stepping, stereotyping, stomping, stooping, stopping, strapping, stripping, stumping, swamping, swapping, sweeping, swiping, swooping, tamping, taping, tapping, thumping, tipping, topping, tramping, trapping, tripping, trooping, typing, unwrapping, upping, usurping, videotaping, walloping, Wapping, warping, weeping, whipping, whooping, whopping, wiping, Wiretapping, worshipping, wrapping, zapping, zipping. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: pargings, sparging. | |
| Words within the letters "a-g-g-i-n-p-r-s" | |
-1 letter: gasping, pagings, parging, parings, parsing, rasping, sparing. | |
-2 letters: agings, gaping, grains, paging, paring, prangs, raging, raping, rasing, sprain, sprang, spring. | |
-3 letters: aging, airns, aping, gains, gangs, garni, gigas, girns, gnars, grain, grans, grasp, grigs, grins, grips, naris, nipas, pains, pairs, pangs, paris, pians, pinas, pings, pirns, prang, prigs, ragis, rains, ranis, rings, sarin. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-g-g-i-n-p-r-s" | |
+1 letter: presaging. | |
+2 letters: gingersnap, grapplings, graspingly. | |
+3 letters: disparaging, gingersnaps, operagoings, programings, spurgalling. | |
+4 letters: graspingness, plagiarising, preassigning, programmings, straphanging. | |
+5 letters: angiographies, disparagingly, glasspapering, megasporangia, misprograming, paperhangings, sparkplugging, supercharging. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
