grep

G2R1E1P3
UK/ɡɹɛp/

proper noun

A program which selects lines in a file which match a given pattern.

“You can't grep dead trees.”

Less commonScrabble 7
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A program which selects lines in a file which match a given pattern.
verbgrep (third-person singular simple present greps, present participle grepping, simple past and past participle grepped)

present singular third person greps · participle present grepping · participle past grepped · past grepped

  1. computingTo use a program such as grep to search in a file.

    You can't grep dead trees.

    1 more example

    Running netstat and grepping for sshd will give a similar output to this: […]

    2019, Kamesh Ganesan, Rithin Skaria, Frederik Vos, Hands-On Linux Administration on Azure […] , 2nd edition, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 293
  2. broadlyTo search anything (perhaps a paper document by eye).

Origin

From an idiomatic command sequence in the qed and ed text editors: ‘g/re/p’, meaning: globally search for a regular expression and print.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch greppen, greppen
  • greppenuse the program grep
  • greppensearch anything
  • zoekensearch anything
Finnish grepata
  • grepatause the program grep
German greppen
  • greppenuse the program grep
Japanese grepする
  • grepするuse the program grep
Russian грепать, грепнуть
  • грепать (grepatʹ)use the program grep
  • грепнуть (grepnutʹ)use the program grep

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with grep

steprepeppepyephepdoorstepcepcrepestrepsteppeshepDieppecrepoverstepschlepskepsleep dep
All rhymes →

Anagrams

preg
Cite this entry
APA

grep. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grep

MLA

“grep.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grep. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grep,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grep.

Source: grep on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.