grapnel
/ˈɡɹæpnəl/
grapnel noun: a small anchor, having more than two flukes, used for anchoring a small vessel.
Noun
grapnel (plural grapnels)
- A small anchor, having more than two flukes, used for anchoring a small vessel.
- […] we espied towards the North end of the Iland ye light of a great fire thorow the woods, to the which we presently rowed: when wee came right ouer against it, we let fall our Grapnel neere the shore, & sounded with a trumpet a Call […]1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC, page...
- At dawn of day we got on shore, and tracked the boat into shelter; for the wind blowing fresh without, and the ground being rocky, I was afraid to trust her at a grapnel, lest she might be blown to sea: I was, therefore, obliged to let her ground in the course of the ebb.1790, William Bligh, A Narrative of the Mutiny on Board his Majesty’s Ship Bounty, London: George Nicol, Entry for 1 June, 1789
- Synonyms:
- graplin
- A device with a multiple hook at one end and attached to a rope, which is thrown or hooked over a firm mooring to secure an object attached to the other end of the rope.
- A grappling iron.
- […] the wind dying away, the signal was made for casting anchor, when both ships came to in 26 fathom water; but the Resolution expecting to come to with her small stream anchor, let the whole run out, and lost both anchor and hauser, besides the ship’s grapnel in looking for it.1785, John Rickman, Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, London: E. Newbery, Part II, p. 233
- With anxious grapnels I had sounded my pocket, and only brought up a few pieces of silver ...1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 2
Verb
grapnel (third-person singular simple present grapnels, present participle (US) grapneling or (UK) grapnelling, simple past and past participle (US) grapneled or (UK) grapnelled)
- To connect (ships) with a grapnel.
grapnel meaning in Malayalam
grapnel in Malayalam
- grapnel
- ചീനി cīni
Examples of grapnel in a sentence
- “[…] Why, you’ve flung your grapnel over the doctor, and he’s coming courting forthwith.”1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, “chapter 22”, in The Woodlanders […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London; New York...
- But by the mercy o’ God to heretics, what were left o’ my poor ship got a hold on that guarda-costa’s timbers wi’ her grapnels, what time we climbs aboard her.1936, Rafael Sabatini, “Sacrilege”, in The Fortunes of Captain Blood:
Synonyms of grapnel
Forms of grapnel
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | grapnels |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | grapnels |
| present participle US | grapneling |
| present participle UK | grapnelling |
| past participle US | grapneled |
| past US | grapneled |
| past participle UK | grapnelled |
| past UK | grapnelled |
Origin of grapnel
From Middle English grapnel, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French grapil, grapin. Compare modern French grappin.
Words that rhyme with grapnel
Questions about grapnel
- What does grapnel mean?
- Grapnel means a small anchor, having more than two flukes, used for anchoring a small vessel.
- What is grapnel in Malayalam?
- Grapnel in Malayalam is ചീനി (cīni). See Grapnel meaning in Malayalam.
- How do you use grapnel in a sentence?
- “[…] Why, you’ve flung your grapnel over the doctor, and he’s coming courting forthwith.”
- What part of speech is grapnel?
- Grapnel can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce grapnel?
- Grapnel is pronounced /ˈɡɹæpnəl/.
- What is the plural of grapnel?
- The plural of grapnel is grapnels.
Words near grapnel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: grapnel (page history and authors); ചീനി (Malayalam) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-grapnel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “grapnel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/grapnel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.