1
as in grip
the act or manner of holding
was simply unable to break my opponent's viselike grapple and lost the wrestling match
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in struggle
an earnest effort for superiority or victory over another
after a grapple with his conscience, he confessed to having an affair
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to wrestle
to seize and attempt to unbalance one another for the purpose of achieving physical mastery
two sumo wrestlers grappling like a pair of mammoth bears
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to grab
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly
a crane grappled the sunken boat and hoisted it above water
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grapple
Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 18 Mar. 2026
Ritchson's 81 grapples with a severe case of survivor's guilt after watching his brother die in Afghanistan.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 11 Mar. 2026
Moriah Balingit, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
The two colleagues and close friends shed tears during an emotional conversation about how Guthrie has managed to soldier on and do her hosting job every day while grappling with her 84-year-old mother's disappearance in February.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 8 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for grapple
Noun
The department is sharing clips of recent incidents stemming from spring break chaos, earning hundreds of thousands of views as officials throughout the Sunshine State grapple with another year of college students descending on their city’s beaches.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 18 Mar. 2026
Ritchson's 81 grapples with a severe case of survivor's guilt after watching his brother die in Afghanistan.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 11 Mar. 2026
Verb
Months after an immigration crackdown in suburban Minneapolis, young children are grappling with trauma.
—Moriah Balingit, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
The two colleagues and close friends shed tears during an emotional conversation about how Guthrie has managed to soldier on and do her hosting job every day while grappling with her 84-year-old mother's disappearance in February.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 8 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for grapple
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grapple
Noun
-
Haiti is one of the world’s poorest countries, in the grip of a political and humanitarian crisis.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
11 June 2026
-
Eldest daughter Abby is recently divorced, and coming to grips with being a single mother, while Paige is an ambitious NYC publicist thrown completely out of her element in Wyoming.—
Cat Cardenas,
Variety,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
The couple also has been open about their struggle with IVF in recent years.—
Emily St. Martin,
Los Angeles Times,
16 June 2026
-
The family’s legal struggles have loomed large over the last several years, but Steven says two moments in particular stand out as the most difficult.—
Deirdre Durkan,
PEOPLE,
15 June 2026
Verb
-
More prestigious films continued to wrestle with the paranoia of the Nixon era.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 June 2026
-
There is little evidence that students are wrestling deeply with ideas.—
Robert B. Tucker,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
Grant asks Chris about the boxing gloves now for sale in the night store, but Katie forestalls him by running over and grabbing them, nearly flattening Chris.—
Tasha Robinson,
Vulture,
16 June 2026
-
Demonstrators grabbed bricks from the ground to throw at police, as tear gas was deployed in Geneva's streets, witnesses told Reuters.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
But what’s behind this chaos, and is there any way to escape its grasp?—
Christopher Elliott,
USA Today,
12 June 2026
-
The trading is also set to determine whether Musk becomes the world’s first trillionaire, a title that currently just exceeds his grasp.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Mexico dominated, winning the possession battle 60% to 40%.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
12 June 2026
-
The Patriots had goals from Maya Feloney and Ava Bridgman, but the possession battle was firmly in NDA’s favor with the score being 5-2.—
Jack Murray,
Boston Herald,
11 June 2026
Verb
-
Running back Jonathon Brooks, who is returning from back-to-back ACL surgeries on his right knee, caught a pass across the middle from Young and blazed down the field through traffic.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
11 June 2026
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All day, the spokespeople for the city and the arena sniped at each other in statements about the security around MSG and the fate of a watch party caught in the snares.—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
Passengers can only carry certain lithium batteries on planes and cannot check them into the cargo hold, according to FAA and airline regulations.—
Kiki Intarasuwan,
CBS News,
16 June 2026
-
New York should be helping America build the infrastructure needed to win, not putting it on hold.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grapple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grapple. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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