Grabber

grab ¹  (grb)

v. grabbed, grab·bing, grabs

v.tr.

1. To take or grasp suddenly: grabbed the letter from me.

2. To capture or restrain; arrest.

3. To obtain or appropriate unscrupulously or forcibly: grab public funds; grab power.

4. To take hurriedly: grabbed my coat and hat and left.

5. Slang To capture the attention of: a plot that grabs the reader.

v.intr.

To make a grasping or snatching motion: We grabbed for the life raft.

n.

1. Sudden seizure of something or someone; a snatch: "The imminence of death is reflected in every last power-stroke and grab of the great money bosses" (Dylan Thomas).

2. One that is grabbed.

3. A mechanical device for gripping an object.

Idiom:

up for grabs Slang

Available for anyone to take or win: "The reputation of the . . . king is still up for grabs" (William Zinsser).

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[Obsolete Dutch or Low German grabben, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German; see ghrebh-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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grabba·ble adj.

grabber n.

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grab ²  (grb)

n.

A usually two-masted, square-rigged Arab coastal vessel.

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[Arabic urb, raven, swift galley; see rb in Semitic roots.]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

grabber - an unpleasant person who grabs inconsiderately disagreeable person, unpleasant person - a person who is not pleasant or agreeable