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grappling

noun

Simple meaning

A small anchor; a grapnel.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

grapling

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɡɹæplɪŋ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. gerund of grapple

    An act in which something is grappled or grappled with.

  2. A grappling hook or grappling iron.

  3. A small anchor; a grapnel.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Uncommon

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

grappling hookgrappling iron

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • grappleverbBase word

    Succeed in doing, achieving, or producing (something) with the limited or inadequate means available.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • grappling hooknounCompound term

    A tool consisting of several hooks for grasping and holding.

  • grappling ironnounCompound term

    A tool consisting of several hooks for grasping and holding.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: act in which something is grappled

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.