grapple
to try to deal with a difficult problem
TRANSLATION
grapple with = sich mit etwas auseinandersetzen oder herumschlagen (woerterbuch.info) --- GOOGLE INDEX grapple with: approximately 2,700,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Finance ministers will GRAPPLE WITH the big issue of who runs the IMF and World Bank at their annual meetings.
(BBC News)
---
The great problem of our civilization is still unsolved. We have to account for and GRAPPLE WITH the mass of misery and destitution in our midst, co-existent as it is with the evidence of abundant wealth and teeming prosperity.
- Joseph Chamberlain, late 19th century British statesman
(BBC News)
---
The great problem of our civilization is still unsolved. We have to account for and GRAPPLE WITH the mass of misery and destitution in our midst, co-existent as it is with the evidence of abundant wealth and teeming prosperity.
- Joseph Chamberlain, late 19th century British statesman
Did you
know?
grapple with
verb
- to try to deal with or understand a difficult problem or subject
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Grapple can be traced back to grapil, Old French for hook. The verb "to grapple", which literally means to seize and hold fast to something, comes from the action of a hook. The verb is most often used in a figurative sense, such as dealing with a problem. In the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin uses it when explaining the potential moral dilemma of his scientific findings:
"The consideration of these facts impresses my mind almost in the same manner as does the vain endeavour to grapple with the idea of eternity."
Grapple can also be used in a literal sense however, such as wrestling or fighting. In Herman Melville's classic story Moby Dick, as Captain Ahab carries out the final battle with the great whale, one of the last things he cries out is:
To the last, I grapple with thee... From hell's heart, I stab at thee... For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.. (thee is the object form of thou, an outdated form of the pronoun "you")
---
SYNONYMS
contend with, cope with, deal with, battle with, face, fight with, struggle with, tackle, wrangle with, wrestle with
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"Management has to grapple with balancing the interests of the different divisions."
verb
- to try to deal with or understand a difficult problem or subject
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Grapple can be traced back to grapil, Old French for hook. The verb "to grapple", which literally means to seize and hold fast to something, comes from the action of a hook. The verb is most often used in a figurative sense, such as dealing with a problem. In the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin uses it when explaining the potential moral dilemma of his scientific findings:
"The consideration of these facts impresses my mind almost in the same manner as does the vain endeavour to grapple with the idea of eternity."
Grapple can also be used in a literal sense however, such as wrestling or fighting. In Herman Melville's classic story Moby Dick, as Captain Ahab carries out the final battle with the great whale, one of the last things he cries out is:
To the last, I grapple with thee... From hell's heart, I stab at thee... For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.. (thee is the object form of thou, an outdated form of the pronoun "you")
---
SYNONYMS
contend with, cope with, deal with, battle with, face, fight with, struggle with, tackle, wrangle with, wrestle with
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"Management has to grapple with balancing the interests of the different divisions."
