手握住：抓住與握力
這一族就是核心畫面本身——真的用手去握。動詞是握的動作，名詞是握的狀態或握的力氣。
take hold of firmly · verb · C1
To take something in your hand and hold it in a strong, steady way, often with a clear purpose.
抓住
核心畫面
You can picture grasp as a hand closing firmly around something and keeping it — fingers wrapped, the thing now held and not slipping away. Everything else the word does grows out of that closing hand: what the hand can reach, what it manages to hold, and what the mind does when it 'holds' an idea the same way.
一隻手伸出去、五指合攏、把東西牢牢握在掌心——不是碰一下，是握住之後就不放。這個畫面裡有三件事同時發生：手伸得到、抓…更多收起
一隻手伸出去、五指合攏、把東西牢牢握在掌心——不是碰一下，是握住之後就不放。這個畫面裡有三件事同時發生：手伸得到、抓得穩、東西現在歸你管。後面所有意思都是從這隻手長出來的：手能伸到多遠（範圍）、抓得多牢（掌控），以及腦袋像手一樣把一個想法「握住」時發生的事（理解）。From the word’s history
grasp goes back to Middle English graspen / grapsen, meaning to grope or feel around with the hands, and is linked to the same Germanic root as grab and gripe. The older word is about hands searching in the dark and closing on something — which is why grasp still carries both the reaching and the holding, and why 'grasp an idea' feels like fingers finally closing on something that was slipping away.
grasp 來自中古英語 graspen / grapsen，原意是「摸索、伸手到處摸」，和 grab、gripe 同源。最早的畫面比較像手在看不清楚的地方摸索，然後終於摸到、合攏抓住——所以 grasp 到今天還同時帶著「伸手去搆」和「握牢」兩層。理解一個難懂的想法會說 grasp，正是因為那種感覺很像：本來一直溜走的東西，手指終於扣住了。
Wiktionary (grasp, etymology: Middle English graspen/grapsen ← Old English *grǣpsian ← Proto-Germanic *graipisōną ← PIE *gʰrebʰ- 'to seize'), corroborated by Online Etymology Dictionary
Four branches
心握住：理解與掌握
從實體的手直接搬到腦袋：能握住的東西從物品變成想法，動作本身完全沒變，所以中文說「掌握」也一樣用手部字。
understand fully · verb · C1
To understand a fact or an idea fully, especially one that is not simple.
理解
手伸得到：機會與可及範圍
把注意力從「握住」往前挪到「搆得到」：同一隻手，只是停在合攏前的那一刻，所以講的是距離與機會，不是佔有。
within reach (of getting something) · noun · C1
Your ability to get or win something you want, so that it is close enough to reach.
可及範圍
握在手裡不放：權力與硬碰硬
把「握住」的時間拉長、力道加重：不放手就成了掌控；明知不好握還是伸手，就成了迎難而上。
control over someone or something · noun · C1
Control or power over a person, a place, or a situation, so that it stays with you.
掌控
原始詞典資料8 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
graspverb/ɡɹɑːsp/
- 1
To grip; to take hold, particularly with the hand.
- How few! yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep, / While I weep—while I weep! / O God! can I not grasp / Them with a tighter clasp?
- 2
To understand.
- I have never been able to grasp the concept of infinity.
- 3
To take advantage of something, to seize, to jump at a chance.
graspnoun/ɡɹɑːsp/
- 1
Grip.
- A vagrant gust of wind snatched the note from my grasp.
- in the tyrant's grasp
- 2
Understanding.
- There is for the mind but one grasp of happiness: from that uppermost pinnacle of wisdom, whence we see that this world is well designed.
- 3
That which is accessible; that which is within one's reach or ability.
- The goal is within my grasp.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。