grip

verb

1. (intransitive, transitive)To take hold (of), particularly with the hand.

   “That suitcase is heavy, so grip the handle firmly.”

   “Unfortunately the glue didn't grip, and the whole thing came apart.”

   “After a few slips, the tires gripped the pavement.”

   “"Grip tightly on the rope!" — "I'm gripping! I'm gripping!"”

   “When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.”

2. (transitive)To figuratively take hold of or grasp.

   “We need to grip this problem, not shut our eyes and hope it goes away.”

3. (transitive)Of an emotion or situation: to have a strong effect upon.

   “As the water level began to rise, I was gripped by panic.”

   “[…] I lost something of the stifling fear that had gripped me, and could listen with more ease to what was going forward.”

4. (transitive)To firmly hold the attention of.

   “The movie gripped me from beginning to end.”

5. (dialectal)To trench; to drain.

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A hold or way of holding, particularly with the hand.

   “It's good to have a firm grip when shaking hands.”

   “The ball will move differently depending on the grip used when throwing it.”

2. (uncountable)Ability to resist slippage when pressed in contact with another object or surface.

   “These tyres are worn out and don't have much grip.”

3. (countable, uncountable)A place to grip; a handle; the portion of a handle that the hand occupies.

   “Near-synonym: handgrip”

   “There are several good grips on the northern face of this rock.”

   “The grip of a sword is part of its hilt.”

4. (abbreviation, alt-of, broadly, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)A place to grip; a handle; the portion of a handle that the hand occupies.
5. (countable, uncountable)A device, or a portion of one, that grasps or holds fast to something.

   “The unthreaded portion of the bolt's shank is called the grip.”

6. (countable, uncountable)A device, or a portion of one, that grasps or holds fast to something.
7. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)Control, power, or mastery over someone or something; a tenacious grasp; a holding fast.

   “We need to get a grip on these spiralling costs.”

   “in the grip of a blackmailer”

   “to strengthen one's grip on a company”

   “On the western sector, General Maltby tried to free the Japanese grip on Shouson Hill and Repulse Bay by sending the Punjabis to advance from Aberdeen to clear the road.”

   “Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.”

8. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)Mental grasp.

   “He's losing his grip – he's practically senile.”

   “For God's sake man, stop panicking and get a grip of yourself!”

9. (countable, uncountable)A medium-sized bag or holdall for one's belongings, made of soft leather, canvas etc., and carried in the hand by two handles, one either side of the opening.
10. (countable, uncountable)A visual component on a window etc. enabling it to be resized and/or moved by dragging with a mouse or finger.
11. (countable, uncountable)A person responsible for handling equipment on the set.
12. (countable, slang, uncountable)As much as one can hold in a hand; a handful.

    “I need to get a grip of nails for my project.”

13. (California, Southern, countable, slang, uncountable)A lot of something.

    “That is a grip of cheese.”

14. (California, Southern, countable, slang, uncountable)A long time.

    “I haven't seen you in a grip.”

15. (alt-of, archaic, countable, uncountable)Archaic spelling of grippe (“influenza”).

    “She has the grip.”

    “It so happened that, during a stretch of inclement weather in the fall, Lester was seized with a mild form of grip. When he felt the first symptoms he thought that his indisposition would be a matter of short duration, and tried to overcome it by taking a hot bath and a liberal dose of quinine. But the infection was stronger than he counted on; by morning he was flat on his back, with a severe fever and a splitting headache.”

    “Grip! Grip!! The little touch of grip you had is no excuse for following the example of some of our "best citizens" who make every little ailment a pretext for dallying with the "demon"!!!!!”

16. (countable, uncountable)A small travelling-bag or gripsack.

    “'I put my grips against the communicating door last night'.”

17. (dialectal)A small ditch or trench; a channel to carry off water or other liquid; a drain.
18. A channel cut through a grass verge, especially for the purpose of draining water away from the highway.