GRAPPLING
wrestling, rassling, grappling
(noun) the sport of hand-to-hand struggle between unarmed contestants who try to throw each other down
wrestle, wrestling, grapple, grappling, hand-to-hand struggle
(noun) the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat; “they had a fierce wrestle”; “we watched his grappling and wrestling with the bully”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Noun
grappling (plural grapplings)
(gerund of grapple) An act in which something is grappled or grappled with.
A grappling hook or grappling iron.
A small anchor; a grapnel.
Synonyms
• handygripes (obsolete)
Verb
grappling
present participle of grapple
Source: Wiktionary
Grap"pling, n.
1. A laying fast ho1d of; also, that by which anything is seized and
held, a grapnel.
2. A grapple; a struggle. A match for yards in fight, in grappling
for the bear. Dryden. Grappling iron, a hooked iron used for
grappling and holding fast a vessel or other object.
– Grappling tongs, broad-mouthed tongs for gathering oysters.
GRAPPLE
Grap"ple, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grappled; p. pr. & vb. n. Grappling.]
Etym: [F. grappiller, OF. graypil the grapple of a ship, fr. graper
to pluck, prop., to seize, clutch; of German origin. See Grape.]
1. To seize; to lay fast hold of; to attack at close quarters: as, to
grapple an antagonist.
2. To fasten, as with a grapple; to fix; to join indissolubly.
The gallies were grappled to the Centurion. Hakluyt.
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. Shak.
Grap"ple, v. i.
Definition: To use a grapple; to contend in close fight; to attach one's
self as if by a grapple, as in wrestling; to close; to seize one
another. To grapple with, to enter into contest with, resolutely and
courageously.
And in my standard bear the arms of York, To grapple with the house
of Lancaster. Shak.
Grap"ple, n. Etym: [See Grapple, v. t., and cf. Crapple.]
1. A seizing or seizure; close hug in contest; the wrestler's hold.
Milton.
2.
(a) An instrument, usually with hinged claws, for seizing and holding
fast to an object; a grab. (b) (Naut.)
Definition: A grappling iron.
The iron hooks and grapples keen. Spenser.
Grapple plant (Bot.), a South African herb (Herpagophytum
leptocarpum) having the woody fruits armed with long hooked or barbed
thorns by which they adhere to cattle, causing intense annoyance.
– Grapple shot (Life-saving Service), a projectile, to which are
attached hinged claws to catch in a ship's rigging or to hold in the
ground; -- called also anchor shot.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition