English Words in Action, Group G

Wanting to eat or to drink more than a person can reasonably consume; voracious; gluttonous: The family was greedily eating and drinking as if they had not eaten or drunk anything for days.

1. Beyond the normal eagerness for acquiring or possessing something; particularly wishing to possess more than what one needs or deserves: There is plenty of food for everyone so you don't need to be greedy.
2. An insatiable desire for wealth which is personified as one of the "deadly sins": Marie was extremely greedy and it was her downfall that she strived to acquire great wealth even at the expense of her personal relationships.

1. A mythical creature said to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery: Harry rechecked everything and he suspects that gremlins were in the database of his computer.
2. Any mysterious, unknown source of trouble or mischief. © ALL rights are reserved.

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A facial expression usually conveying contempt, pain or disapproval: The grimace Jane made after smelling the very old piece of cheese indicated that it was not edible any more! © ALL rights are reserved.
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1. A cat, especially an elderly female: Carol's grimalkin was already 15 years old and was still able to catch mice in the garden.
2. An old, bad-tempered woman; a crone or an ugly, evil-looking, or frightening old woman: Rebecca's elderly neighbor was certainly a grimalkin because she was quite crotchety and shrewish. © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. A firm or strong hold or grasp of something: Lenora tightened her grip on the door handle as she pulled it closed.
2. The pressure or strength of holding something firmly: As Todd pulled the cart of dirt, he had to increase his grip in order to control it as he was going over the bumps to the place where he wanted to dump the soil.
3. Holding power or control of something: The military have a strong grip on the country's government and economy.
4. A small suitcase for traveling: Helena bought a bright orange grip to take with her on the weekend.
5. Someone who helps out on a theater set, moving scenery, etc.: Monroe's volunteer job was as a grip at the local drama theater.

1. To grab and to hold something tightly: Each of Adriana's two little children gripped her hands as they walked across the street.

Ernest gripped the hammer and started nailing the wood together.

As a reporter, Tracie's accounts of the murder trial gripped the reader's interest.

2. To get and to maintain the interest and attention of another person or people: The storms and high temperatures have gripped the awareness of much of the world this summer.

1. A tool that has a handle and allows someone to pick up things on the floor and to hold it without having to bend down: Because of his bad back, John found it much more convenient to use a gripper to pick up small items that fell down instead of bending down to get them.
2. A part of a device that grasps or holds an object: There are a variety of grippers that use suction cups, magnets, and other features to pick up and to hold objects that have fallen to the floor so a person can continue to stand up instead leaning down to get them and even to get a-hold of things that are too high to reach on a shelf.

A painting technique by which an image is executed entirely in shades of gray and usually severely modeled to create the illusion of sculpture, especially in a relief: The artist was renowned for her execution of grisaille, using a monochrome of grey.

This aspect of grisaille was used particularly by the 15th-century Flemish painters (as in the outer wings of the van Eycks’ Ghent Altarpiece) and in the late 18th century to imitate classical sculpture in wall and ceiling decorations.

Among glass painters, grisaille is the name of a gray, vitreous pigment used in the art of coloring glass for stained glass.

A reference to a horrifyingly gruesome and terrifying situation or scene: The two friends decided to go to a grisly movie that was ghastly, creepy, and spine-chilling! © ALL rights are reserved.
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1. To use one’s hands to search for something that a person may not be able to see or that the location of something is not clear: Ernest groped for the telephone after it rang when he was asleep.

Debora groped for the light switch when she went into the dark room.

2. To look for something figuratively or literally with no clear direction or motive: The students groped for an answer from the professor.
3. To search or to explore another person with one’s hands: The airline passenger refused to be groped by the airport security personnel.

4. To be at a loss for an answer or the desired words to express oneself, to fumble: Alan groped for the right answer to the problem that his daughter told him about. © ALL rights are reserved.
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To be slavishly polite to someone in the hope of securing something: If Robert really wanted Sally to go out with him, he would have to grovel and cater to her wishes in order to get her attention! © ALL rights are reserved.

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A deep-seated and/or a long-term animosity or ill will about something or someone; especially, as a result of a past bad deed or a mistreatment: Ever since Joan's neighbor Sam kicked her cat, she held a grudge against him and didn't talk to him again! © ALL rights are reserved.

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Characteristic of something which is very tiring or exhausting: A marathon is a very grueling contest. © ALL rights are reserved.

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To complain with discontent or to murmur in a low voice: Henry often grumbles about the kinds of food that he eats; however, he has not learned to cook what he really likes to eat. © ALL rights are reserved.

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