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Comprehension; knowledge of affairs; mental grasp. [Slang, U. S.]

guard the firearm from becoming wet. The piece is turned with the barrel to the front and grasped by the right hand at the lewer band, the muzzle is dropped to the front, and the piece held with the guard under the right arm, the hand supported against the hip, and the thumb on the rammer.

To fall or rush upon suddenly and lay hold of; to gripe or grasp suddenly; to reach and grasp. For by no means the high bank he could seize. Spenser. Seek you to seize and gripe into your hands The royalties and rights of banished Hereford Shak.

The act of taking or grasping suddenly.

The act of seizing, or the state of being seized; sudden and violent grasp or gripe; a taking into possession; as, the seizure of a thief, a property, a throne, etc.

Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory. Their own short understandings reach No farther than the present. Rowe.

ng by an act pushing, as with an oar a pole used by one in a boat; sometimes with off. He grasped the oar,shoved from shore. Garth.

*ly, adv. The flagitious profligacy of their lives, and the simoniacal arts by which they grasped at the popedom. J. S. Harford.

precepts be succinct and clear. Roscommon. The shortest and most succinct model that ever grasped all the needs and necessities of mankind. South.

In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to convey. Hence, specifically: --

ches laden with choice fruit which likewise receded whenever he stretched out his hand to grasp them.

f the stick receives the butt of the spear, as upon a hook or thong, and the other end is grasped with the hand, which also holds the spear, toward the middle, above it with the finger and thumb, the effect being to bring the place of support nearer the center of the spear, and practically lengthen the arm in the act o…

in finely bred black and tan terriers. -- Thumb nut, a nut for a screw, having wings to grasp between the thumb and fingers in turning it; also, a nut with a knurled rim for the same perpose. -- Thumb ring, a ring worn on the thumb. Shak. -- Thumb stall. (a) A kind of thimble or ferrule of iron, or leather, for pro…

(Mach.), a chuck, as for a lathe, having jaws which can be moved simultaneously so as to grasp objects of various sizes. -- Universal church, the whole church of God in the world; the catholic church. See the Note under Catholic, a., 1. -- Universal coupling. (Mach.) Same as Universal joint, below. -- Universal dia…

A gripe or grasp. [Obs.] Shak.

urning bolts, nuts, screw taps, etc.; a screw key. Many wrenches have adjustable jaws for grasping nuts, etc., of different sizes.

catch- can. In Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling the contestants stand chest to chest, grasping each other around the body. The one first losing his hold, or touching the ground with any part of his body except his feet, loses the bout. If both fall to the ground at the same time, it is a dogfall, and must be wrestl…