Noah Webster
Grasp
GR'ASP, verb transitive To seize and hold by clasping or embracing with the fingers or arms. We say, to grasp with the hand, or with the arms.
1. To catch; to seize; to lay hold of; to take possession of. Kings often grasp more than they can hold.
GR'ASP, verb intransitive To catch or seize; to gripe.
1. To struggle; to strive. [Not in use.]
2. To encroach.
To grasp at, to catch at; to try to seize.
Alexander grasped at universal empire.
GR'ASP, noun The gripe or seizure of the hand. This seems to be its proper sense; but it denotes also a seizure by embrace, or infolding in the arms.
1. Possession; hold.
2. Reach of the arms; and figuratively, the power of seizing. Bonaparte seemed to think he had the Russian empire within his grasp