Adjacent Words

grappling definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat; "they had a fierce wrestle"; "we watched his grappling and wrestling with the bully" [syn: wrestle, wrestling, grapple, grappling, hand-to-hand struggle]
2: the sport of hand-to-hand struggle between unarmed contestants who try to throw each other down [syn: wrestling, rassling, grappling]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1582 1. grapnel 2. grappling hook

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Grapple Grap"ple, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grappled; p. pr. & vb. n. Grappling.] [F. grappiller, OF. graypil the grapple of a ship, fr. graper to pluck, prop., to seize, clutch; of German origin. See Grape.] 1. To seize; to lay fast hold of; to attack at close quarters: as, to grapple an antagonist. 2. To fasten, as with a grapple; to fix; to join indissolubly. The gallies were grappled to the Centurion. --Hakluyt. Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Grappling Grap"pling, n. 1. A laying fast ho1d of; also, that by which anything is seized and held, a grapnel. 2. A grapple; a struggle. A match for yards in fight, in grappling for the bear. --Dryden. Grappling iron, a hooked iron used for grappling and holding fast a vessel or other object. Grappling tongs, broad-mouthed tongs for gathering oysters.