grapple
To wrestle or struggle with something difficult.
grapple in a sentence
- The fisherman grappled with the huge net as the storm tossed his little boat.
- For weeks the class had to grapple with tricky fractions until, at last, they made sense.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to grapple?
- Awrestle
- Bquit
- Csurrender
- Drelease
Show the answer
A: wrestle. The other three mean the opposite of grapple.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to grapple?
- Asurrender
- Bwrestle
- Cfight
- Dstruggle
Show the answer
A: surrender. The other three mean nearly the same as grapple.
Words that mean something similar
wrestle, struggle, fight
Words that mean the opposite
surrender, release, quit
More words about movement & action
- gruelling: So hard and tiring that it completely wears you out.
- hamper: To make it hard for someone to do something.
- hasty: Done too quickly and without thinking.
- hectic: Extremely busy and full of rushing about.
- hinder: To make something harder to do or slow it down.
- hoist: To lift something up, often using ropes or effort.
- hurtle: To move very fast, often without control.
- immobile: Not moving or not able to move.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test