mid-14c., "to reach, grope, feel around," possibly a metathesis of grapsen, from Old English *gr?psan "to touch, feel," from Proto-Germanic *grap-, *grab- (cognates: East Frisian grapsen "to grasp," Middle Dutch grapen "to seize, grasp," Old English grapian "to touch, feel, grope"), from PIE root *ghrebh- (1) "to seize, reach" (see grab (v.)). With verb-formative -s- as in cleanse. Sense of "seize" first recorded mid-16c. Transitive use by 17c. Figurative use from c. 1600; of intellectual matters from 1680s. Related: Grasped; grasping.
grasp (n.)
1560s, "a handle," from grasp (v.). As "act of grasping" from c. 1600; also "power of grasping." Meaning "power of intellect" is from 1680s.
Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?
[Browning, "Andrea del Sarto"]
例文
1. He let the ball slip through his grasp and into the net.
ボールは彼の手から滑り出し、ゴールに潜り込んだ。
2.His hand was taken in a warm,firm grasp .
彼の手は情熱的に握り締められた。
3.アトレーwas extremely intelligent and his grasp of the situation was masterly.
アトリーは頭が良く、情勢の把握が優れている。
4.I know that you 'refloundering around，trying to grasp at any straw.
あなたが困っているのは知っています。病気で急いで医者にかかっているのです。
5.The people in your grasp are not guests,they are hostages.