grasp

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
grasp /grɑːsp/

▶verb

• 1 seize and hold firmly.

  ■ take (an opportunity) eagerly.

• 2 comprehend fully.

▶noun

• 1 a firm grip.

  ■ a person's capacity to attain something: success was within his grasp.

• 2 a person's understanding.

– derivatives
graspable adjective,
grasper noun.

– origin ME: perh. rel. to grope.