Word.ws English Dictionary

grabs by the lapels

grabs by the lapels is the third-person singular simple present indicative of grab by the lapels.

Meaning of grab by the lapels

Verb

grab by the lapels (third-person singular simple present grabs by the lapels, present participle grabbing by the lapels, simple past and past participle grabbed by the lapels)

  1. To buttonhole someone (into conversation).
  2. (idiomatic) To exert control over (something).
    • Rooney, back in his central role, had a good opportunity soon afterwards but his left foot has never been a great weapon and Suárez was the only attacker here capable of grabbing the game by its lapels.2014 June 20, Daniel Taylor, “World Cup 2014: Uruguay sink England as Suárez makes his mark”, in guardian.co.uk

Questions about grabs by the lapels

What is grabs by the lapels the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Grabs by the lapels is the third-person singular simple present indicative of grab by the lapels.

Words near grabs by the lapels in the dictionary

  1. grabrail
  2. grabrails
  3. grabs
  4. grabs and goes
  5. grabs at
  6. grabs by the lapels
  7. grabs hold
  8. grabs off
  9. grabs one's ankles
  10. grabs some air
  11. grabs some z's

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: grabs by the lapels (page history and authors); grab by the lapels (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “grabs by the lapels.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/grabs_by_the_lapels. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.