grapple: Meaning and Definition of

grap•ple

1. to hold or make fast to something, as with a grapple.
2. to use a grapple.
3. to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling; clinch.
4. to engage in a struggle or close encounter (usually fol. by with): He was grappling with a boy twice his size.
5. to try to overcome or deal (usually fol. by with): to grapple with a problem.

1. to seize, hold, or fasten with or as with a grapple.
2. to seize in a grip, take hold of: The thug grappled him around the neck.

1. a hook or an iron instrument by which one thing, as a ship, fastens onto another; grapnel.
2. a seizing or gripping.
3. a grip or close hold in wrestling or hand-to-hand fighting.
4. a close, hand-to-hand fight.