Grabbed
verbSeized or took hold of something suddenly and roughly.
How to spell grabbed
7 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce grabbed
What does grabbed mean?
- verbSeized or took hold of something suddenly and roughly.
Grabbed in a sentence
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She grabbed her coat and ran for the bus.
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He grabbed the railing as the train lurched forward.
Where does grabbed come from?
Language of origin: Dutch
The base verb 'grab' came into English in the late 1500s, borrowed from the Middle Dutch or Low German verb 'grabben', meaning 'to seize, snatch, or grasp suddenly'. That word belonged to a wider family of Germanic terms for grasping, and it is closely related to 'grapple' and even to 'grip' through their shared sense of taking firm hold. English speakers found the short, punchy sound a natural fit for a quick snatching action, and it has kept that vivid, physical meaning ever since. The past tense 'grabbed' follows the regular English pattern of doubling a single final consonant after a short stressed vowel before adding -ed, which is exactly why the spelling carries two b's: the same reason 'rob' becomes 'robbed' and 'stab' becomes 'stabbed'. Forgetting that doubling, and writing 'grabed', is the usual slip.
How the word is built
- grab (to seize suddenly)
- -bed (past tense; the final b doubles before the -ed ending)
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