Grasping
//ˈɡɹæspɪŋ// adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of one who grasps or covets.
"These are my connections, my attachments. Maybe all I really am is the sum of all these connections, these fearful longings and graspings."
- 2 the act of gripping something firmly with the hands (or the tentacles) wordnet
- 3 understanding with difficulty wordnet
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of grasp form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
- 1 Greedy, eager for wealth.
"Just how, Agamemnon, great field marshal . . . most grasping man alive, how can the generous Argives give you prizes now? I know of no troves of treasure, piled, lying idle, anywhere."
Adjective
- 1 immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth wordnet
Example
More examples"Today, as Americans, we grieve the brutal murder -- a horrific massacre -- of dozens of innocent people. We pray for their families, who are grasping for answers with broken hearts."
Related phrases
More for "grasping"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.