greifen

From Middle High German grîfen, from Old High German grīfan, from Proto-West Germanic *grīpan, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- (“to grab, grasp”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʁaɪ̯fən/, [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fən], [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fn̩], [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fɱ̩]

• Audio:

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greifen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present greift, past tense griff, past participle gegriffen, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive) to grab; to grasp; to grip (something)
2. (transitive) to grab; to seize; to snatch (in an aggressive way)
3. (intransitive) to reach; to grab

   an etwas greifen ― to touch something (literally, “to grab onto something”)

   nach etwas greifen ― to reach for something

   zu etwas greifen ― to reach for something

   in etwas greifen ― to reach into something

4. (transitive) to capture (someone)

   Synonyms: schnappen, fassen

5. (transitive, music, chords) to strike

   Synonym: anschlagen

   • 1931, Arthur Schnitzler, Flucht in die Finsternis, S. Fischer Verlag, page 14:

     Er begab sich ins Klavierzimmer, griff ein paar Akkorde auf dem verstimmten Flügel, verließ aber bald wieder den Raum, [...]

     He went to the piano room, struck a few chords on the out-of-tune grand piano, but soon left the room again, [...]

6. (intransitive) to take hold; to bite

   Trotz des schlechten Wetters griffen die Reifen hervorragend ― The tires did bite perfectly despite the bad weather.

• Grips m

• “greifen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “greifen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “greifen” in Duden online
• “greifen” in OpenThesaurus.de