as in grips
the act or manner of holding
she tried to maintain her tight handhold on the umbrella as the wind picked up
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Recent Examples of handholds
That would cut off access to the narrow gaps between train cars where subway surfers use handholds to hoist themselves onto the roof.
—
Dave Smith, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025
Instead of using natural handholds in the rock, via ferrata climbers move almost exclusively using artificial hardware drilled into the rock face, such as chains, cables, bridges, and ladders, and are attached to these fixtures via a tether and harness at all times.
—Owen Clarke, Outside, 29 Sep. 2025
Dave Smith, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025
Instead of using natural handholds in the rock, via ferrata climbers move almost exclusively using artificial hardware drilled into the rock face, such as chains, cables, bridges, and ladders, and are attached to these fixtures via a tether and harness at all times.
—Owen Clarke, Outside, 29 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handholds
Noun
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Needless to say, Prince William's visit to Brazil offers him an opportunity to attempt a reset for the British monarchy, which for weeks now has been in the grips of a crisis about Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.—
Jack Royston,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
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Heated grips, cruise control, a quickshifter, knuckle protectors, and a center stand all come as stock.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The Hurricanes needed that to happen after the game nearly slipped out of their grasps.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
1 Sep. 2025
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Halakhic rulings on divorce, medical emergencies, or conversion involve nuance that no present-day model grasps.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Its slash-proof body is also waterproof and comes with locking zippers, RFID-blocking card slots, and lockable clasps.—
Claire Gallam,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Nov. 2025
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Ancient book clasps — used to keep manuscript tomes shut — were uncovered at the site, along with styli, the medieval equivalents of pens and pencils.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handholds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handholds. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.
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