- grasp
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 holding sthADJECTIVE▪ firm, tight (esp. AmE)▪
She felt a firm grasp on her hand.
VERB + GRASP▪ slip from▪As she jumped forward, the ball slipped from her grasp.
▪ escape, slip out of (usually figurative)▪He slipped out of our grasp (= he escaped).
▪ prise sth from (BrE), pry sth from (esp. AmE), rip sth from, snatch sth from, wrench sth from, wrest sth from▪She wrenched the bottle from his grasp.
▪ tighten (esp. AmE)PREPOSITION▪ beyond your grasp▪The key was on a high shelf, just beyond her grasp.
▪ in your grasp▪He kept the letter firmly in his grasp.
▪ from sb's grasp▪The robber tried to free the case from her grasp.
▪ out of sb's grasp▪She kicked the gun out of his grasp.
▪ within (your) grasp (often figurative)▪Just when victory seemed within grasp, the referee blew his whistle.
2 understandingADJECTIVE▪ firm, good, impressive, solid, strong▪ feeble, limited, poor, shaky, tenuous▪ intellectual▪The task was beyond the intellectual grasp of some of the students.
▪ intuitive▪We have no intuitive grasp of the immensity of time.
VERB + GRASP▪ have▪ get▪Working with native speakers helped me get a good grasp of the language.
PREPOSITION▪ beyond sb's grasp▪These ideas are all beyond his grasp.
▪ within sb's grasp▪ grasp of▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}a poor grasp of mathematics
verb1 take hold of sb/sth suddenly and firmlyADVERB▪ firmly, tightlyPREPOSITION▪ at▪Her hands were grasping at his coat.
▪ by▪She grasped him tightly by the wrist.
PHRASES▪ grasp hold of sb/sth▪She grasped hold of the banister to support herself.
2 understand sthADVERB▪ fully▪He had not fully grasped the fact that he was the one who would pay for all this.
▪ not quite, not really▪I hadn't really grasped what they were talking about.
▪ quickly▪ easily, readily▪a means by which students can more easily grasp the basics of science
VERB + GRASP▪ try to▪ be unable to, fail to▪She failed to grasp the significance of these facts.
▪ quick to▪He was quick to grasp the basic principles.
▪ be difficult to, be hard to▪Some of these concepts are very difficult to grasp.
Grasp is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑handGrasp is used with these nouns as the object: ↑arm, ↑basics, ↑chance, ↑complexity, ↑concept, ↑edge, ↑elbow, ↑end, ↑enormity, ↑essence, ↑essentials, ↑fact, ↑fundamentals, ↑hand, ↑handle, ↑hold, ↑implication, ↑importance, ↑intricacy, ↑magnitude, ↑meaning, ↑opportunity, ↑rail, ↑reality, ↑rein, ↑seriousness, ↑significance, ↑situation, ↑subtlety, ↑truth, ↑wrist
Collocations dictionary. 2013.