grappling hook
noun
: a hook usually with multiple prongs that is typically attached to a rope and is used for grabbing, grappling, or gripping
called also grappling iron
Examples of grappling hook in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Your kit also contains special attacks, a grappling hook for zipping around the environment, and stealth kills.
—
PCMAG, 21 Mar. 2024
Without enough de-mining equipment and vehicles, Ukrainian forces have sometimes had to resort to going out with ropes and grappling hooks that troops pull across fields.
—Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Feb. 2024
There are machines with the ability to cast nets and extend grappling hooks, too.
—Jon Gertner, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2023
The treaty says nothing about such provocations — or about grappling hooks, nesting dolls and cyberwarfare.
—Jon Gertner, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2023
Some give you a higher jump or faster run; one gives you a retractable vine that’s basically a grappling hook.
—Andrew Webster, The Verge, 20 Oct. 2023
Other available badges let Mario jump higher, grab distant walls with a piranha plant grappling hook, or climb up walls with a useful vertical jump.
—Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 18 Oct. 2023
In the simplest version, a bacterium with a lusty plasmid uses grappling hooks to snare a plasmidless mate, and a fusion point forms between the two; the donor bacterium then copies its plasmid and passes the spare to its mate.
—Mark Caldwell, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
The videos instead lingered on the suspenseful logistics of a recovery: currents push the boat sideways, something mysterious pops up on the sonar screen, a grappling hook snags on a log.
—Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
PCMAG, 21 Mar. 2024
Without enough de-mining equipment and vehicles, Ukrainian forces have sometimes had to resort to going out with ropes and grappling hooks that troops pull across fields.
—Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Feb. 2024
There are machines with the ability to cast nets and extend grappling hooks, too.
—Jon Gertner, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2023
The treaty says nothing about such provocations — or about grappling hooks, nesting dolls and cyberwarfare.
—Jon Gertner, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2023
Some give you a higher jump or faster run; one gives you a retractable vine that’s basically a grappling hook.
—Andrew Webster, The Verge, 20 Oct. 2023
Other available badges let Mario jump higher, grab distant walls with a piranha plant grappling hook, or climb up walls with a useful vertical jump.
—Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 18 Oct. 2023
In the simplest version, a bacterium with a lusty plasmid uses grappling hooks to snare a plasmidless mate, and a fusion point forms between the two; the donor bacterium then copies its plasmid and passes the spare to its mate.
—Mark Caldwell, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
The videos instead lingered on the suspenseful logistics of a recovery: currents push the boat sideways, something mysterious pops up on the sonar screen, a grappling hook snags on a log.
—Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grappling hook.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1581, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near grappling hook
Cite this Entry
“Grappling hook.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grappling%20hook. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about grappling hook
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