to grip

Examples

• All

• Late at night, a kind of sadness descends and grips the girls in your dorm.

  Fiction book (1993)

• As I look west into East Houston this morning... ...I see a town gripped with fear.

  Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

• For a second, terror grips me, as I half expect it to move.

  Fiction book (1994)

• So guilt really gripped me very hard through my early adulthood.

  Anything Goes With James English

• Washington spent most of the summer of 2011 gripped by the debt-ceiling showdown.

  Academic text (2011)

• Yet whatever it lacked in rhetorical flourish, that letter gripped me from the start.

  Academic text (2000)

• They were immediately gripped with fear, turned and ran as quick as they could back through the woods, across the pasture field, and down the hill, and, uh, called the authorities as soon as they got back home.

  FLATWOODS (2022)

• As the horror movie reached its climax, a chilling fear gripped the audience, making them hold their breath.

• The entire city was gripped by excitement as they prepared for the New Year fireworks display.

• She was gripped by a wave of nostalgia when she heard the old song playing on the radio.

Synonyms

F

to fascinate

vsto grip

238 3.4

To attract and hold someone's strong interest or attention

involves emotions deeply and can also prevent action

S

to seize

vsto grip

77 4.8

Feel a sudden strong emotion or pain

creates a strong emotional hold that may last rather than be brief

G

to get hold of

vsto grip

7 3.4

To feel a strong emotion suddenly that controls you

captures attention and emotion and can stop normal responses

S

to spellbind

vsto grip

1 7.0

To hold people completely interested as if by magic

holds feelings so strongly that movement or response may stop

T

to transfix

vsto grip

1 7.6

Cause someone to stand still because they feel amazed or scared

affects emotions strongly but not only by freezing movement

Antonyms

R

to release

∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

D

to distract

513 2.1

To make someone stop paying attention to what they are doing or thinking about

Phrasal Verbs

G

to get a grip

• Informal

56 5.6

To calm down and control your feelings

G

to get a grip on

• Informal

13 4.0

Start to understand and control your feelings or a hard situation

U

to unloose grip

6.7

Let go of something you are holding, physically or emotionally

Compounds

P

pistol grip

• Specialized

3 5.5

A handle shaped like the part of a small gun you hold with one hand

G

grip-and-grin

• Literature

9.1

A social event where people shake hands and pose for photos

S

scissor grip

• Jargon

8.3

A leg hold that wraps around an opponent and squeezes by locking the feet together

S

scissors grip

• Jargon

8.4

A hold that wraps the legs around an opponent's body or head and squeezes with the feet

How Engaging

to mesmerize

• US

39 6.4

to enthrall

20 6.8

to grip

50 6.0

to captivate

19 4.2

to engage

117 3.5

to interest

206 1.0

Surface Forms

Etymology