grip / grip/ • v. (gripped, grip·ping) [tr.] 1. take and keep a firm hold of; grasp tightly: his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel. ∎  [intr.] maintain a firm contact, esp. by friction: a sole that really grips well on wet rock.2. (of a feeling or emotion) deeply affect (someone): she was gripped by a feeling of excitement. ∎  (of an illness or unwelcome situation) afflict strongly: the country was gripped by recession. ∎  compel the attention or interest of: [as adj.] (gripping) a gripping TV thriller. • n. 1. [in sing.] a firm hold; a tight grasp or clasp: his arm was held in a vicelike grip| fig. the icy grip of winter. ∎  a manner of grasping or holding something: I've changed my grip and my backswing. ∎  the ability of something, esp. a wheel or shoe, to maintain a firm contact with a surface: these shoes have got no grip. ∎  [in sing.] an effective form of control over something: our firm grip on inflation. ∎  [in sing.] an intellectual understanding of something: you've got a pretty good grip on what's going on.2. a part or attachment by which something is held in the hand: handlebar grips.3. a traveling bag: a grip crammed with new clothes.4. an assistant in a theater; a stagehand. ∎  a member of a camera crew responsible for moving and setting up equipment.PHRASES: come (or get) to grips with engage in combat with: they never came to grips with the enemy. ∎  begin to deal with or understand: a real tough problem to come to grips with.get a grip [usu. in imper.] inf. keep or recover one's self-control: get a grip, guys!get a grip on take control of: the Fed will have to act to get a grip on inflation.in the grip of dominated or affected by something undesirable or adverse: people caught in the grip of a drug problem.lose one's grip become unable to understand or control one's situation: an elderly person who seems to be losing his grip.DERIVATIVES: grip·per n.grip·ping·ly adv.

gripsb.
i. OE. gripe grasp, clutch, corr. to OHG. grif- in comb., MHG. grif (G. grif) grasp, handle, claw, ON. grip grasp, cluth, gripr possession, property;

ii. OE. gripa handful, sheaf; both f.wk. bse of grīpan GRIPE.
So grip vb. OE. (late Nhb.) grippa.

GRIP (Greenland Ice Core Project) A European drilling programme that extracts ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet, from which atmospheric and palaeoclimatological data are obtained. It operates at a site about 30 km from the second GISP site. In 1993, GRIP reached bedrock at about 3000 m.