to grapple

Examples

• All

• But we must constantly grapple with who the real Hamlet might be.

• The Palestinians must demonstrate that they, too, are ready to grapple with the complexity of the struggle.

  Academic text (2012)

• To grapple with those difficult questions.

  God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness (2018)

• - As people grapple with our new reality, trying to accept the fact that they may never see those missing loved ones again.

  Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist (2023)

• But it seems pretty routine for people to to kind of grapple with those big questions.

• At this moment, I do not think we have even started to grapple with that significantly.

  Academic text (2017)

• Although the English enjoy better overall health than Americans, both countries still grapple with large health inequalities.

  Academic text (2012)

• Studies of linguistic diversity patterns must also grapple with the dynamic nature of diversification processes over time.

  Academic text (2013)

• All of this drives us back to grapple anew with core human questions, questions that have animated philosophy and religion across the ages.

  Stanford

• The teacher had to grapple with the students' confusion about the complex math problem.

Synonyms

S

to struggle

vsto grapple

∞ 2.8

To try very hard to do or deal with something difficult

adds the idea of understanding a problem as well as overcoming it

T

to tackle

vsto grapple

238 3.4

To try to deal with a difficult problem or task

emphasizes trying to understand or work through a difficult challenge

W

to wrestle

vsto grapple

94 3.9

To struggle with a difficult problem or decision

is broader, applying to tackling external problems as well as internal ones

W

to wrestle with

vsto grapple

71 4.6

Try hard to deal with a difficult problem

focuses more on effort to deal with or understand the difficulty

G

to grapple with

vsto grapple

58 6.1

To try hard to deal with a difficult problem or situation

is the same meaning but refers to the action in general

C

to come to grips

vsto grapple

35 5.5

Start to accept and deal with a difficult situation

describes ongoing hard effort rather than just starting to address it

P

to puzzle over

vsto grapple

8 5.9

Think carefully about something because it is hard to understand

focuses more on active effort to deal with or resolve the problem

T

to tackle (the problem)

vsto grapple

6 3.0

To try hard to solve a problem

is more about sustained trying to deal with or understand difficulty

R

to rassle

vsto grapple

• Informal

1 9.9

To struggle with a hard problem or task

is the neutral, standard expression for the same determined effort

Phrasal Verbs

G

to grapple with

58 6.1

To try hard to deal with a difficult problem or situation

How Hard

to wrestle with

71 4.6

to grapple

62 4.2

to work through

201 3.4

to ponder

128 4.3

to consider

∞ 1.8

Surface Forms

Etymology