Noah Webster
Grapnel
GRAP'NEL
GRAP'PLE, verb transitive
1. To seize; to lay fast hold on, either with the hands or with hooks. We say, a man grapples his antagonist, or a ship grapples another ship.
2. To fasten; to fix, as the mind or heart. [Not in use.]
GRAP'PLE, verb intransitive To seize; to contend in close fight, as wrestlers.
To grapple with, to contend with, to struggle with successfully.
GRAP'PLE, noun A seizing; close hug in contest; the wrestler's hold.
1. Close fight.
2. A hook or iron instrument by which one ship fastens on another.