to grab a coffee
7
2.4
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
tomar un café
- I usually grab a coffee on my way to work.
- go grab a coffee
- want to grab a coffee
- just grab a coffee
All right, I'm gonna go grab a coffee at at Skew Chairs Scooters.
- All right, I'm gonna go grab a coffee at at Skew Chairs Scooters.
- I'm going to go grab a coffee and we're going to get going.
- Really nice to like go run your errands, to do groceries, go grab a coffee, whatever.
- I'm going out, I'm being around other people, which has like go grab a coffee to go every day, sometimes multiple times a day.
Examples
-
I'm going to go grab a coffee and head to the Convention Center.
-
Do you wanna come grab a coffee with me?
-
Oh, hello, made it to the train station with enough time to grab a coffee, which is very important.
-
Do you think we can grab a coffee or something?
-
I was thinking we should go grab a coffee.
-
I was just gonna grab a coffee.
-
I'll grab a coffee on the way to school.
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Let's grab a coffee real quick.
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Grab a coffee with me.
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Listen, I'll be at the seaside for a couple of days... and I was thinking that maybe we can grab a coffee sometime?
Synonyms
100
1.0
To buy coffee to drink with someone casually
28
1.6
Quickly buy a cup of coffee, often to meet someone briefly
How Quick
- Informal
7
2.4
100
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to quickly buy or get a cup of coffee' is directly derivable from combining 'grab' (to take or seize quickly) with 'a coffee' (a cup of coffee); the indefinite article does not change the compositional meaning. This verb + noun pattern is common in English and cross-linguistically analogous, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase grab a coffee comes from the simple image of someone quickly taking a cup—literally to grab a coffee—often while walking or during a short break. That's why today it means 'to quickly get a cup of coffee' or 'meet briefly for a chat'.