<p><strong>verb</strong></p><ul><li>to hold or make fast to something, as with a grapple.</li><li>to use a grapple.</li><li>to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling; clinch.</li><li>to engage in a struggle or close encounter (usually followed by with): He was grappling with a boy twice his size.</li><li>to try to overcome or deal (usually followed by with): to grapple with a problem.</li></ul><p><strong>noun</strong></p><ul><li>a hook or an iron instrument by which one thing, as a ship, fastens onto another; grapnel.</li><li>a seizing or gripping.</li><li>a grip or close hold in wrestling or hand-to-hand fighting.</li><li>a close, hand-to-hand fight.</li></ul>