grappled

verb

past tense of grapple
1
as in wrestled
to seize and attempt to unbalance one another for the purpose of achieving physical mastery two sumo wrestlers grappling like a pair of mammoth bears

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in grabbed
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly a crane grappled the sunken boat and hoisted it above water

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of grappled He's grappled with substance abuse issues, a good dose of Mommy issues and there's some Daddy issues sprinkled in, too. — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 19 June 2026 Throughout the season, the cheerleaders grappled with their newfound fame while adhering to a strict set of rules that have been in place since the 1970s. — Emma Banks, PEOPLE, 23 June 2026 His successors have all grappled, largely unsuccessfully, with the consequences of that rupture. — ABC News, 23 June 2026 Chatrie and the Supreme Court For decades, the court has grappled with law enforcement’s use of technologies to track the location of people or things. — Anne Toomey McKenna, The Conversation, 30 June 2026 South Africa already hiked its interest rate by 25 -basis points last month, as policymakers grappled with the global energy shock. — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 29 June 2026 Mayor Vi Lyles announced her surprise resignation in May as the city grappled with generation-defining decisions. — Nick Sullivan july 1, Charlotte Observer, 1 July 2026 Fosdick was part of the modernist movement in American Protestantism, which grappled with the implications of evolution and with new scholarship about the Bible’s origins. — Michael Luo, New Yorker, 14 June 2026 Sometimes exacerbated by empty downtowns, both European and North American cities have grappled with a rise in homelessness, crime and littering. — Katharina Buchholz, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grappled
  1. wrestled
  2. grabbed
  3. caught
  4. seized
  5. snatched
  6. landed
  7. captured
Verb
  • Tempers flared late in the fourth quarter when Kings center Dylan Cardwell and Nets guard Egor Demin wrestled for a loose ball.
    — Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 5 July 2026
  • The shooting may have been worse if not for the actions of a Muslim immigrant from Syria who wrestled a gun from one of the alleged attackers.
    — John Blake, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
Definition of wrestled
Verb
  • When Kennedy approached the rider and grabbed the handlebars to check whether the bike was registered, the rider refused to get off and allegedly tried to pull away.
    — Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
  • Maura Higgins, breakout star of The Traitors, grabbed her best tennis whites to ace the style assignment at Wimbledon 2026.
    — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 1 July 2026
Definition of grabbed
Verb
  • While once exclusive to skateboarders for their ease of movement, thanks to a crop of particular designers’ spring/summer 2026 collections—from Dries Van Noten, to Khaite and TWP—they’ve caught the eye of the fashion set, too.
    — Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 2 July 2026
  • The circular logic of it would be darkly comic if tens of thousands of livelihoods weren't caught in the middle.
    — Jemma Green, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of caught
Verb
  • Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who voted against the proposal in mid-June, voiced fears that the list of noncitizen voters would immediately be seized by federal immigration authorities.
    — Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
  • Meanwhile, Russia’s military on Saturday claimed to have seized the city of Kostiantynivka, a key defensive hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
    — Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 4 July 2026
Definition of seized
Verb
  • Your rich location history and device data get snatched up regularly in such fences by private companies; your present and past self travels through them constantly.
    — Anne Toomey McKenna, The Conversation, 30 June 2026
  • But the fear of being snatched by ICE agents remains, Neel said.
    — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026
Definition of snatched
Verb
  • The plane landed upright in the water and was being towed back to a dock, the FDNY said.
    — Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 5 July 2026
  • Rafael Devers hit two homers, the latter being a 463-foot shot that landed in the upper deck.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 5 July 2026
Definition of landed
Verb
  • The beautiful Grace Kelly captured the world's attention and imagination (and still does) for decades, but no one was more enamored by the actress than Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
    — Freya Drohan, InStyle, 30 June 2026
  • The exchange was captured by Redman’s body camera footage during a stop involving immigrants.
    — AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of captured

Browse Nearby Words

grapple
grappled
grappled (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Grappled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grappled. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on grappled

Nglish: Translation of grappled for Spanish Speakers

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