grab means "take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in grab?

grab has 1 syllable: grab. In IPA it is /ˈɡɹæb/.

What is another word for grab?

Close synonyms include catch, take hold of, snap up, snaffle, seize. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is grab a common word?

grab is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

grab — meaning, pronunciation and 8 definitions

verb

6 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of
“Catch the ball!”
“Grab the elevator door!”
Synonymscatch take hold of
Broaderseize
Narrowerharpoon fish hook net intercept
2.
get hold of or seize quickly and easily
“I snapped up all the good buys during the garage sale”
Synonymssnap up snaffle
Broadertake
Narrowerhog
3.
make a grasping or snatching motion with the hand
“The passenger grabbed for the oxygen mask”
Broadermove
4.
obtain illegally or unscrupulously
“Grab power”
Broaderobtain
5.
take or grasp suddenly
“She grabbed the child's hand and ran out of the room”
Broaderseize
6.
capture the attention or imagination of
“This story will grab you”
“The movie seized my imagination”
Synonymsseize
Broaderintrigue

noun

2 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a mechanical device for gripping an object
Broadermechanical device
2.
the act of catching an object with the hands
“Mays made the catch with his back to the plate”
“he made a grab for the ball before it landed”
“Martin's snatch at the bridle failed and the horse raced away”
“the infielder's snap and throw was a single motion”
Synonymscatch snatch snap
Broadertouch
Narrowerfair catch interception reception rebound shoestring catch mesh

Other forms of grab

plural: grabs·
past tense or participle: grabbed
present participle: grabbing

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about grab

What does grab mean?: grab means "take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in grab?: grab has 1 syllable: grab. In IPA it is /ˈɡɹæb/.
What is another word for grab?: Close synonyms include catch, take hold of, snap up, snaffle, seize. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is grab a common word?: grab is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for grab come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

verb

6 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of
“Catch the ball!”
“Grab the elevator door!”
Synonymscatch take hold of
Broaderseize
Narrowerharpoon fish hook net intercept
2.
get hold of or seize quickly and easily
“I snapped up all the good buys during the garage sale”
Synonymssnap up snaffle
Broadertake
Narrowerhog
3.
make a grasping or snatching motion with the hand
“The passenger grabbed for the oxygen mask”
Broadermove
4.
obtain illegally or unscrupulously
“Grab power”
Broaderobtain
5.
take or grasp suddenly
“She grabbed the child's hand and ran out of the room”
Broaderseize
6.
capture the attention or imagination of
“This story will grab you”
“The movie seized my imagination”
Synonymsseize
Broaderintrigue

noun

2 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a mechanical device for gripping an object
Broadermechanical device
2.
the act of catching an object with the hands
“Mays made the catch with his back to the plate”
“he made a grab for the ball before it landed”
“Martin's snatch at the bridle failed and the horse raced away”
“the infielder's snap and throw was a single motion”
Synonymscatch snatch snap
Broadertouch
Narrowerfair catch interception reception rebound shoestring catch mesh

Other forms of grab

plural: grabs·
past tense or participle: grabbed
present participle: grabbing

Questions about grab

What does grab mean?: grab means "take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in grab?: grab has 1 syllable: grab. In IPA it is /ˈɡɹæb/.
What is another word for grab?: Close synonyms include catch, take hold of, snap up, snaffle, seize. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is grab a common word?: grab is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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grab

verb

noun

Other forms of grab

Questions about grab

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grab

verb

noun

Other forms of grab

Questions about grab