1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1st S., ch. viii. He makes a grab at me, and I shuts the door right to on his wrist.
2. (American).—A robbery; a steal (q.v.). Cf., Grab-gains.
3. (old).—A body-stealer; a resurrectionist.
1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xvi. Sir ——’s dressers and myself, with an experienced grab—that is to say, a professional resurrectionist—were to set off from the Borough.
4. (gamesters’).—A boisterous game at cards.
Verb (vulgar).—1. To Pinch (q.v.); to seize; to apprehend; to snatch or steal. Grabbed = arrested.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. The pigs grabbed the kiddy for a crack.
1818. Maginn, Vidocq’s Song. Tramp it, tramp it, my jolly blowen, Or be grabbed by the beaks we may.
1837. Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, Wk. I., ch. x. There, man, grab the money, it’s on the table.
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xiii. Do you want to be grabbed, stupid?