gripe

verb

\ ˈgrīp

griped; griping

Definition of gripe

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 archaic : seize, grasp

2a : afflict, distress

b : irritate, vex griped by the new regulations

3 : to cause pinching and spasmodic pain in the bowels of

intransitive verb

1 : to experience gripes

2 : to complain with grumbling Students griped about having too much homework.

gripe

noun

Definition of gripe (Entry 2 of 2)

1 archaic : clutch, grasp broadly : control, mastery

2 : a pinching spasmodic intestinal pain —usually used in plural

3 : grievance, complaint Her main gripe was his utter lack of ambition.

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Examples of gripe in a Sentence

Verb

All of the workers were griping about the new regulations. The students griped that they had too much homework.

Noun

I would rather not listen to gripes about your latest disasters in the dating game.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Mourinho continued to gripe about his squad’s quality despite spending over $400 million of United’s money. — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, "Mourinho Fired From Manchester United as Premier League Heavyweights Struggle," 18 Dec. 2018 The left will gripe that Americans who don’t have access to paid leave also don’t have enough money to save. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "The Election Tax Divide," 16 Sep. 2018 Forced to divide his time in the engine room as well as doing his duties on the deck, the four guys stuck doing all the heavy lifting can’t help but gripe about the fact that Tony isn’t pulling his weight, despite what’s going on below deck. — Tyler Mccarthy, Fox News, "'Deadliest Catch' Season 14, Episode 14 recap: Tensions rise as crews members misbehave," 10 July 2018 Let’s make a midweek holiday something to cherish instead of something to gripe about. — Nestor Ramos, BostonGlobe.com, "The Fourth of July falls on a Wednesday this year. And that presents some . . . challenges," 2 July 2018 For now, the Liberty seem disinclined to gripe about being relocated from a world famous arena to a facility that also hosts a reptile expo and a seminar on knife fighting. — Seth Berkman, New York Times, "The Liberty, in Transition, Make a New Home in the Suburbs," 19 May 2018 Source: Second Measure Whole Foods’ new delivery service has led some customers to gripe. — Laura Stevens, WSJ, "Attention, Amazon Prime Members Who Shop at Whole Foods: You’re in Luck," 16 June 2018 When less commercial artists win the big awards -- think Steely Dan and Herbie Hancock winning Album of the Year -- music fans gripe. — Robert Levine, Billboard, "The Recording Academy Seeks New Leader, But For What Exactly? (Column)," 12 June 2018 Former devotees routinely gripe on social media that the software has become too difficult to use. — Dina Bass And Nate Lanxon, chicagotribune.com, "Don't skype me: How Microsoft turned consumers against a beloved brand," 14 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

My only gripe is that elementary OS's scaling is either 1X or 2X, and there's no in-between. — Scott Gilbertson, Ars Technica, "A tour of elementary OS, perhaps the Linux world’s best hope for the mainstream," 28 Dec. 2018 House members’ main gripe, however, is that the Senate bill dramatically weakens three key tenets of the legislation, including the need for lawmakers to be liable for discrimination settlements as well as harassment settlements. — Li Zhou, Vox, "Congress seemed determined to tackle its sexual harassment problem. But, the bill is still stalled.," 6 Dec. 2018 Another gripe from the right is that Treasury is not banning all Iranian financial transactions through the Swift system that ensures secure cross-border financial messaging. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "The New Iran Sanctions," 4 Nov. 2018 In a lot of ways, this program seems like a direct response and a corrective to the specific gripes that MoviePass users have made about that service’s restrictions. — Yohana Desta, HWD, "Move Over, MoviePass: AMC Announces a Subscription Service of Its Own," 20 June 2018 Starkville is without a mall, but that’s not the biggest gripe from new residents to this place. — Ross Dellenger, SI.com, "How Mississippi State Baseball Turned a Season That Began in Humiliation Into a Trip to Omaha," 15 June 2018 At the end of the video, the charm evaporates with a teaser for another song: a male gripe about gold-digging women. — Jon Pareles, New York Times, "The Playlist: The 1975 Talk About Its Generation, and 9 More New Songs," 1 June 2018 John Frenaye, the founder of Eye on Annapolis, a local news site, said Ramos trolled him from 2013 to 2015, repeatedly airing his gripes against the Capital Gazette. — NBC News, "Suspect in Maryland newspaper shooting had sued Capital Gazette for defamation," 29 June 2018 In the Comey situation, both sides had gripes with the FBI's Clinton email investigation. — Amber Phillips, Washington Post, "Trump’s flimsy case for firing Rod Rosenstein," 11 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gripe.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.