death grip
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.09 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The walker held with a death grip to his stick lest he drop it down the hill."
- "Cunningham then declared […] that he was at Mr. Lyneall's, and saw Robinson snap his pistol, which did not go off; that he heard a voice from some one, saying fire! and also heard a shot, but did not know who fired; that Condron, the approver, afterwards told him he had no pistol, as he dropped it when he fired; that Condron could not help firing, as the gentleman who struggled with him held a death grip of the pistol he fired."
- "The mysterious bark, though rent and shattered, still held on with a death-grip to the bridge, and the starting and splinting timbers of the latter seemed to shrink and shriek with fear and agony."
- "You might define obstinacy as holding on to small ideas or unworthy aims with a death-grip."
- "Robert with a death grip on an English saddle."
- "Until that night, the dynasty of the Dark Earth had held the nation in a death grip of control."
Etymology
The masturbation sense was coined by American sex advice columnist and gay rights campaigner Dan Savage in 2003.