grab at/for
phrasal verb
grabbed at/for; grabbing at/for; grabs at/for
: to quickly stretch out one's hand and try to touch or hold (something or someone)
People were grabbing at her as she walked through the crowd.
He grabbed for the ball and missed.
—often used figurativelyWe grabbed at the chance to go.
political parties grabbing for power
Examples of grab at/for in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One more followed in the fourth when Soto, in foul territory, made a leaping grab at the wall in right.
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Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 6 June 2024
And in Crazy, Stupid, Love, a motley parade of men — Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, John Carroll Lynch, and Kevin Bacon — grab at one another’s necks and tumble to the ground in an awkward four-way scuffle concerning overlapping romantic entanglements.
—Vikram Murthi, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024
Already isolated by its exile in Tunisia, the PLO became even weaker in 1990 after its wealthy patrons in the Gulf cut funding when Arafat backed Saddam Hussein’s grab for Kuwait.
—Yousef Munayyer, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2019
The girls were screaming and crying and trying to grab at him.
—Cindy Shmerler, New York Times, 24 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for grab at/for 
Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 6 June 2024
And in Crazy, Stupid, Love, a motley parade of men — Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, John Carroll Lynch, and Kevin Bacon — grab at one another’s necks and tumble to the ground in an awkward four-way scuffle concerning overlapping romantic entanglements.
—Vikram Murthi, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024
Already isolated by its exile in Tunisia, the PLO became even weaker in 1990 after its wealthy patrons in the Gulf cut funding when Arafat backed Saddam Hussein’s grab for Kuwait.
—Yousef Munayyer, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2019
The girls were screaming and crying and trying to grab at him.
—Cindy Shmerler, New York Times, 24 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for grab at/for
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grab at/for.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near grab at/for
Cite this Entry
“Grab at/for.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grab%20at%2Ffor. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.
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