1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., 149. I do manage
to grab on somehow.
Grab-all, subs. (colloquial).—1. An avaricious person; a greedy-guts
(q.v.).
1872. Sunday Times, 18 Aug. This gentleman, it is well known, has
worked with indomitable energy on behalf of the millions, and has
succeeded in wresting from the mean and contemptible grab-alls of
that government which professes to study the people’s interest
those portions of the Embankment which the public money has paid
for.
2. (colloquial).—A bag to carry odds and ends, parcels, books, and so
forth.
Grabber, subs. (common).—In. pl., the hands. For synonyms, see Daddle
and Mauley.
Grabble, verb. (old).—1. To seize: a frequent form of grab (q.v.).
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. To grabble the bit; to seize any one’s
money.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. You grabble the goose-cap and I’ll frisk
his pokes.