grappled

verb

past tense of grapple
1
as in wrestled
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

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2
as in grabbed
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly a crane grappled the sunken boat and hoisted it above water

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of grappled OpenAI officials learned of the incident weeks ago but kept it under wraps as executives grappled with the fallout from the July breach of the open source repository Hugging Face, the people said. — Reuters, NBC news, 4 Sep. 2026 Women seeking political office have long grappled with double standards around the demands of motherhood, with many waiting to seek office once their children were grown. — Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026 Iceland has grappled with high inflation and interest rates that have made mortgages expensive. — CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026 As survivors grappled with the aftermath, criticism of the burials mounted. — ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026 In August 2026, the Cyrus family grappled with the loss of longtime friend and country music legend Dolly Parton. — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 28 Aug. 2026 Blumberg and preservation One might imagine that a man nearing 90 and who was a prominent leader in hospitality has grappled with the issue of historic preservation. — Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026 Lane was granted immunity from prosecution for his testimony against Adams, though Wright Stevens grappled with growing evidence that suggested Lane had prior run-ins with the Ipalook sisters and was at their home the night of the murders. — Mackenzie Farkus, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Aug. 2026 Down in the Keys, Dry Tortugas National Park has grappled with deteriorating historic masonry and failing dock systems, threatening the safety of tens of thousands of visitors who visit the park’s remote Fort Jefferson each year. — Lulu Vilas, Sun Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grappled
  1. wrestled
  2. grabbed
  3. caught
  4. seized
  5. snatched
  6. landed
  7. captured
Verb
  • Hinduism itself has long wrestled with the question of how many gods there are, and different answers have been proposed throughout its history, but none of those answers necessarily invalidates the others.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
  • County officials — caught between a state legislative mandate to cooperate with ICE, a national mass deportation push that was filling their jail with detainees and a vocal electorate that demanded change — wrestled with how to respond.
    — Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of wrestled
Verb
  • Oliver grabbed a hat-trick to take his tally for the season to seven in just four games after four against Leeds United the previous week.
    — Rob Tanner, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • At 4 o’clock on a Thursday morning, Salomon Olea grabbed a packed lunch of a ham-and- cheese torta and a white peach, kissed his wife goodbye and left the home in Escondido he’s owned for nearly 30 years.
    — Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of grabbed
Verb
  • Ancelotti, though, could have spent the past four weeks in Europe and still barely caught a glance of Estevao Willian, Brazil’s would-be attacking talisman.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • In this ⁠year’s hunting season, which runs ​from ⁠June to around the end of September, 80 fin whales had been caught as of Wednesday, according to ⁠Humane World for Animals, an animal welfare group that tracks ​the ⁠catches.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of caught
Verb
  • Masterson’s detractors have seized on the rebrand as an attempt to minimize his connection to Trump in a year when national Republicans worry the president’s polarizing leadership could cost the party majorities in the House and Senate.
    — Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Agents also seized a semiautomatic handgun and $11,800 in cash, the outlet reported.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of seized
Verb
  • Faria was down a break and scrambling to survive, having snatched the opening set by getting past Alcaraz’s defenses.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • As of July this year, 35,000 phones had been snatched, according to official statistics from the Met.
    — Emmet Lyons, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of snatched
Verb
  • Idzik helped Canales prepare for offensive coordinator interviews when both were in Seattle, then accompanied him to Tampa when Canales landed the OC job with the Buccaneers in 2023.
    — Joseph Person, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • The blast landed just beyond the right-field wall — a 366-foot solo shot.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of landed
Verb
  • Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war.
    — Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2026
  • One of the iconic Chicago Bears photos from 1985, shot during a minicamp practice in the spring, captured Walter Payton with one finger on his left hand tugging down the shorts of fullback Matt Suhey, who was lined up in the I-formation.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of captured

Browse Nearby Words

grapple
grappled
grappled (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Grappled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grappled. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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