reach for

reach for (someone or something)

1. Literally, to extend one's hand in the direction of someone or something, especially in order to grasp onto them or it. I reached for his hand to help pull him out of the ditch. How eerie—I was just reaching for the telephone to call you when it suddenly started to ring!
2. To attempt to achieve, accomplish, or obtain something. I know you've been reaching for a position at the top of the company. The job of your dreams isn't going to just fall in your lap—you've got to reach for it!
See also: reach
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

reach for someone or something

to extend one's grasp to someone or something. I reached for my father, but he wasn't there. I reached for a pen, but I only had a pencil.
See also: reach
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • get a hand on (something)
  • have (something) in hand
  • have in hand
  • in hand
  • give (someone) the back of (one's) hand
  • have (something) well in hand
  • on hand
  • hand on
  • hand in
  • a hand in (something)
References in periodicals archive
I found that there are many psychological, theological and spiritual connotations surrounding it, as well as cliches, such as "reach for the stars, your goals, new heights, ambition, fulfillment, holiness, the height of grace," and many more.
He just wanted to be loved and to extend love, a reminder that we should always reach for joy
I think of how vitally important it is to pay attention to what our hearts reach for and to discern whether it is life-giving or not.
Like most everyone at this age, I know what it is like to have reached beyond the end of one's rope, to find the way to take the high road and to reach for, as Southard suggests, "the unknown, the possibility and the promise."
Reach for mercy, reach for joy
Children and parents will want to reach for Reaching over and over again!
Reaching
Before attacking with the 3/4 Nelson, it is necessary to "anchor back." That is, to hook the bottom wrestler's left ankle with the right leg (top man), then reach for a 1/2 Nelson with the left hand while simultaneously reaching his right hand under and locking his hands (Photo 11) behind the bottom man's neck.
Coming to grips with the Nelsons
Demolition contractors often want added reach for vertical rather than horizontal reasons.
New heights: longer reach, greater power, smoother controls--scrap handler improvements keep on coming. (Scrap Handling Equipment Focus)
They tirelessly reach for funds to support the Society's programs and its international research effort.
"Reach". (The Last Word)
* There is a maximum reach for a daypart within a given period of time and for a given demographic.
* Potential: The maximum reach for daypart and demo.
The proprietary formulas developed for television did a very good job of estimating the reach for combinations of sites.
Internet ad buys - what reach and frequency do they deliver?
The animals nearly always use their left hands to reach for food floating in a moat, she says, while their hand preferences for reaching during foraging lean only slightly to the left.
A 'handy' guide to primate evolution: the hands of monkeys and apes may hold clues to the riddle of human handedness and brain organization