grapple with

grapple with (someone or something)

1. To physically struggle with someone else to obtain something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "grapple" and "with." I grappled with one of the players on the other team for the ball.
2. To have difficulty in understanding or managing something. We've been grappling with a lot of technical issues since implementing that new computer system.
See also: grapple
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

grapple with something

Fig. to deal with a problem; to get a "good hold" on a problem. I have enough to grapple with now. No more problems, please. I cannot grapple with any additional problems.
See also: grapple
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

grapple with

v.
To be engaged with the complications or problems presented by something; struggle with: Some parts of the world are grappling with overpopulation.
See also: grapple
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • orient
  • orient to
  • orient to (something)
  • spiff up
  • spiffed up
  • back into
  • back into (someone or something)
  • angle
  • angling
  • not do (someone or oneself) any favors
References in periodicals archive
The Lebanese are tired of waiting and need a new government soon to grapple with their acute economic crisis, Charles Ayyoub, editor and publisher of the local daily AD DIYAR, said Monday.
THIS is the nail-biting moment spearfisherman Craig Clasen plunged a blade into a 12ft tiger shark after a life-or-death grapple with the predator.
For instance, the courts have begun to grapple with whether free-speech rights apply in the virtual world of cyberspace.
But the essays show that a biblical theology must grapple with complex issues of the relationship of history and theology, the shape of the canon that is to be considered, how to find unity in diversity, and the relationship of the Old Testament to the New Testament.
Abramsky inaccurately states that the left is unwilling to grapple with totalitarian-think.
Each must grapple with identity, loyalty, and what their beliefs mean for themselves and with regard to each other.
For a recycler using grapples to move lighter material (wood debris, for example) around the yard, however, a wider grapple with more tines could be a better choice.
As tissue engineers grapple with the problem of choosing an appropriate cell source to generate tissues, Stevens et al.
Author Bill Reeb, CPA, has surveyed over 500 CPA firms and conducted in-depth interviews with 30 managing partners representing firms in transition or about to grapple with succession.
LAST DECEMBER, AS the world tried to grapple with the devastating scope of the tsunami that hit South Asia--at last count, the death toll stood at nearly 300,000--the tragedy became fodder for fatuous religious discussions, focusing on an ancient question: How can a just, good, all-powerful, all-loving God allow evil to happen and innocents to suffer?
"Soon, we'll start using the quick-connect system to change out the grapple with a magnet," he notes.
A first-person view of the ups, downs, backstabbing, money-jockeying, desertions, loneliness and more in an often cutthroat business world, The Cash Cage is not only an engrossing personal story, but also a no-holds-barred "how-to" guide for anyone struggling to break into the business, curious individuals seeking to learn the pitfalls of the trade, and in fact anyone determined to grapple with adversity.
Your industry sources are always very knowledgeable, and the timely topics repeatedly hit home, addressing many of the issues my clients grapple with every day.
At the end of January, they sent out an official Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and announced a formal public workshop to grapple with this issue.
The more diversely you see something, the more you have to grapple with the fact that it's not just the one thing you might have been conditioned to think it was."