[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/grab.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / grab

[← G](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/G/)

# grab

«grab» in Mova's school dictionary: **to take hold of something quickly and roughly** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (grab, grabs, grabbed, grabbing); noun (a grab)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To grab is to take hold of something quickly and roughly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#m1)

2) To grab can mean to get something quickly: «grab a snack», «grab a seat». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#m2)

3) To grab someone's attention is to make them notice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#m3)

4) «Up for grabs» means free for anyone to take. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

an action of taking: grabbing some items from a bag or bowl, which takes them away from there or adds them to a person; in manners: do not grab, ask nicely and take turns; in safety: grab the rail if you slip; in stories: a hand grabbed him in the dark; phrases: «grab hold of», «grab a bite», «up for grabs»

### examples

- Tom grabbed 5 sweets from the bowl. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x1)
- She grabs 3 apples each time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x2)
- After he grabbed 4 cookies, 9 were left. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x3)
- Each child grabs 2 balloons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x4)
- Don't grab, ask nicely and wait your turn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x5)
- He grabbed the rail when the bus stopped. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x6)
- Let's grab a sandwich before the film. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x7)
- The bright poster grabbed my attention. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x8)
- The last seat is up for grabs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x9)
- She leaped upon the boards and made a grab at him and fell back. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/#x10)

### note

An action like «take»: what is grabbed leaves the place and joins the person. Trap: decide whose amount is asked; the bowl loses but the child gains (grabbed 4, 9 left → 13 at first). Past: grabbed (double b).

### In the corpora

- [Families make phone rules so meals are for talking, and adults find them hard to keep because phones are built to grab attention.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/29-screens-diets-sofas-and-late-nights/5/)
- [A great grey owl can plunge through deep snow to grab a vole it has only heard.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/9/)
- [They have no venom; they hunt by grabbing prey and wrapping it in their coils, which is why they are called constrictors.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get/1/)
- [Snakes bite people mostly when they are trodden on, grabbed or cornered.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes/7/)
- [A ladybird's red and black are a warning: it tastes bitter and oozes yellow liquid from its knees when grabbed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/367-animal-colours-pink-flamingos-rare-blue-animals-white-albinos-and-black-panthers/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «grab» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/grab/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.