Meanings
- obsoleteTo ready oneself for action or bravery; to gird up one's loins.
The lady, with a do-or-die expression, gripped the wheel, her husband gripped himself with both hands, looking as miserable as a dog at a dance.
1927 July 18, The Herald, Melbourne, page 62 more examples
But, as the saying goes, I gripped myself with both hands. It grew upon my mind, once I could face the facts, that, terrible as our position was, there was as yet no justification for absolute despair.
1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 224In every-day life he is inclined somewhat on the excitable side, but as an alderman he apparently grips himself with both hands, and settles down for the welfare of the town as a whole.
1916 February 11, The Northern Herald, Cairns, page 19
Cite this entry
grip oneself with both hands. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grip%20oneself%20with%20both%20hands
“grip oneself with both hands.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grip%20oneself%20with%20both%20hands. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grip oneself with both hands,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grip%20oneself%20with%20both%20hands.
Source: grip oneself with both hands on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.