# grab

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɡɹæb/ · frequency rank #2,896

## Definitions
1. To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
2. To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
3. To restrain someone; to arrest.
4. To grip the attention of; to enthrall or interest.
5. To quickly collect, retrieve, or take.
6. To consume something quickly.
7. To take the opportunity of.

## Etymology
From Middle Dutch grabben or Middle Low German grabben (“to grasp, grab, seize, snatch”), from Old Saxon gravan, from Proto-West Germanic *grabbōn, a secondary form of Proto-Germanic *grabōną (“to gather, rake”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to gather, rake, grab, seize”).
Related to archaic German grappen (“to grab”), Danish grabbe (“to grab”), Swedish grabba (“to grab”), Old Norse grápa (“to seize, appropriate”), Middle English grappen (“to feel, grope, grasp, clutch”), Old English ġegræppian (“to seize”).
Related also to Sanskrit गृह्णाति (gṛhṇā́ti), गृभ्णाति (gṛbhṇā́ti, “he seizes”), Avestan 𐬔𐬭𐬀𐬠 (grab, “to seize”)), Macedonian грабне (grabne, “to snatch”), Bulgarian грабя (grabja, “to rob, to grab”).

## Easily confused with
- **GTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-gta)
- **GRE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-gre)
- **GSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-gsa)
- **GRU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-gru)
- **gro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-gro)
- **grr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grr)
- **grt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grt)
- **grow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grow)
- **grew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grew)
- **grey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grey)
- **gray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-gray)
- **Greg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-greg)
- **grid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grid)
- **grip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grip)
- **gram** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-gram)
- **grim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grim)
- **grad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grad)
- **grin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grin)
- **gran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-gran)
- **grit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grab-vs-grit)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ggrab`, `grabb`, `grba`, `grrab`, `rgab`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grab