gripe

Etymology 1

From Middle English gripen, from Old English grīpan, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- (“to grab, grasp”). Cognate with West Frisian gripe, Low German griepen, Dutch grijpen, German greifen, Danish gribe, Swedish gripa. See also grip, grope.

verb

1. (intransitive, informal) To complain; to whine.
   In “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character. April 29, 2012, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in AV Club
2. (transitive, informal) To annoy or bother.
   What's griping you?
3. (nautical) To tend to come up into the wind, as a ship which, when sailing close-hauled, requires constant labour at the helm.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To pinch; to distress. Specifically, to cause pinching and spasmodic pain to the bowels of, as by the effects of certain purgative or indigestible substances.
5. (intransitive) To suffer griping pains.
6. (obsolete, intransitive) To make a grab (to, towards, at or upon something).
7. (archaic, transitive) To seize or grasp.

noun

1. A complaint, often a petty or trivial one.
2. (nautical) A wire rope, often used on davits and other life raft launching systems.
3. (obsolete) Grasp; clutch; grip.
   The young peasant […] disengaged himself from Manfred's gripe […]. 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, section I
   I started — I dropped the glass — the fluid flamed and glanced along the floor, while I felt Cornelius's gripe at my throat, as he shrieked aloud, "Wretch! you have destroyed the labour of my life!" 1833, Mary Shelley, The Mortal Immortal
4. (obsolete) That which is grasped; a handle; a grip.
   the gripe of a sword
5. (engineering, dated) A device for grasping or holding anything; a brake to stop a wheel.
6. (obsolete) Oppression; cruel exaction; affliction; pinching distress.
   the gripe of poverty
   'Tis the cruel gripe, / That lean hard-handed poverty inflicts, / The hope of better things, the chance to win, / The wiſh to ſhine, the thirſt to be amus'd, / That at the found of Winter's hoary wing, / Unpeople all our counties, of ſuch herds, / Of flutt'ring, loit'ring, cringing, begging, looſe, / And wanton vagrants, as make London, vaſt / And boundless as it is, a crowded coop. 1785, William Cowper, “The Garden”, in The Task, a Poem, in Six Books. By William Cowper […] To which are Added, by the Same Author, An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq. Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools, and The History of John Gilpin, London: Printed for J[oseph] Johnson, No. 72 St. Paul's Church-Yard, OCLC 221351486; republished as The Task. A Poem. In Six Books. To which is Added, Tirocinium: or, A Review of Schools, new edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Printed for Thomas Dobson, bookseller, in Second-street, second door above Chestnut-street, 1787, OCLC 23630717, page 87
7. (chiefly in the plural) Pinching and spasmodic pain in the intestines.
8. (nautical) The piece of timber that terminates the keel at the fore end; the forefoot.
9. (nautical) The compass or sharpness of a ship's stern under the water, having a tendency to make her keep a good wind.
10. (nautical) An assemblage of ropes, dead-eyes, and hocks, fastened to ringbolts in the deck, to secure the boats when hoisted.

Etymology 2

noun

1. Alternative form of grype