<p><strong>Verb (used without object)</strong></p><ul><li>to complain naggingly or constantly; grumble.</li><li>Synonyms: bellyache, rail, carp, mutter, whine.</li><li>to suffer pain in the bowels.</li><li>(of a sailing vessel) to tend to come into the wind; to be ardent.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used with object)</strong></p><ul><li>to annoy or irritate: His tone of voice gripes me.</li><li>to produce pain in (the bowels) as if by constriction.</li><li>to distress, afflict, or oppress: poverty that gripes and pinches us.</li><li>to secure (a lifeboat) to a deck or against a pudding boom on davits.</li><li>Archaic: to seize and hold firmly with the hand, claws, etc.; grasp; clutch.</li><li>to greedily take possession of and hold tightly: The miser gripes his money for fear of losing it.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun (Informal)</strong></p><ul><li>a nagging complaint.</li><li>Usually gripes.</li><li>Pathology: an intermittent spasmodic pain in the bowels.</li><li>something that grips or clutches; a claw or grip.</li><li>Nautical: a lashing or chain by which a boat is secured to a deck or in position on davits.</li><li>Also called gripe piece.</li><li>a curved timber connecting the stem or cutwater of a wooden hull with the keel.</li><li>the exterior angle or curve formed by this piece; forefoot.</li><li>the forward end of the dished keel of a metal hull.</li><li>Archaic: the act of gripping, grasping, or clutching.</li><li>a firm hold; clutch.</li><li>mastery; hold; control.</li><li>Rare: a handle, hilt, etc.</li></ul>