grapper
/ˈɡɹæpəɹ/
grapper noun: a metal ring or leather strap on the base of a lance behind the grip, designed to stop the lance from moving backward by catching on the lance rest or on the lancer's chest and arm when the lance was tucked into the armpit.
Noun
grapper (plural grappers)
- A metal ring or leather strap on the base of a lance behind the grip, designed to stop the lance from moving backward by catching on the lance rest or on the lancer's chest and arm when the lance was tucked into the armpit.
- Likewise , if the jouster's spear were tied with 'thonge' or 'grappers', he should be ejected ignominiously.1997, Professor Department of History Sydney Anglo, Sydney Anglo, Spectacle, Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy, Oxford University Press on Demand
- [Grappers] were first introduced in the early fourteenth century and became standard after the introduction of the lance-rest in the late 1300s. A description of the grapper as it was configured in 1446 is provided in an anonymous French manuscript as follows: Item, the said grappers are...2010, Noel Fallows, Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia, Boydell Press, →ISBN, page 119
- Synonyms:
- grate
- A grappling hook or grappling iron.
- We fastned grappers in her, and soe towed her a head.1625, John Glanvill, Voyage to Cadis, page 61
- Without the help of vellicles, hooks, or grappers.1676, Henry More, Remarks upon two late ingenious Discourses, page 145
Examples of grapper in a sentence
- [Grappers] were first introduced in the early fourteenth century and became standard after the introduction of the lance-rest in the late 1300s.2010, Noel Fallows, Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia, Boydell Press, →ISBN, page 119:
- An inexpert lancer, because the grapper transmitted much of the shock to the feltlined lance arrest secured to the right side of his breastplate, might be flung from saddle […]2014, Karl Edward Wagner, Dark Crusade, Gateway, →ISBN:
- It's got a lance rest to fit the grapper to.2015, Deborah Chester, Time Trap, Diversion Books, →ISBN:
- To avoid such unpleasantries as severe injuries […] The grapper or (in its earlier name) grate was affixed to the lance behind the grip.2020, Alan V. Murray, Karen Watts, The Medieval Tournament as Spectacle: Tourneys, Jousts and Pas D'armes, 1100-1600, Boydell & Brewer...
Synonyms of grapper
Forms of grapper
| plural | grappers |
|---|
Origin of grapper
Related to grapple.
Words that rhyme with grapper
Questions about grapper
- What does grapper mean?
- Grapper means a metal ring or leather strap on the base of a lance behind the grip, designed to stop the lance from moving backward by catching on the lance rest or on the lancer's chest and arm when the lance was tucked into the armpit.
- How do you use grapper in a sentence?
- [Grappers] were first introduced in the early fourteenth century and became standard after the introduction of the lance-rest in the late 1300s.
- What part of speech is grapper?
- Grapper is a noun.
- How do you pronounce grapper?
- Grapper is pronounced /ˈɡɹæpəɹ/.
- What is the plural of grapper?
- The plural of grapper is grappers.
Words near grapper in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: grapper (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:
Cite this entry: “grapper.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/grapper. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.