handgrip

• hand-grip, hand grip

From Middle English hand grip, handegrip, from Old English handgripe (“handgrip”), from Proto-Germanic *handugripiz (“handgrip”), equivalent to hand +‎ grip. Cognate with Dutch handgreep (“handgrip, grasp”), German Handgriff (“handgrip, grasp, handle, hilt”), Danish håndgreb (“handgrip”), Swedish håndgrepp (“handgrip, handle, hilt”).

handgrip (plural handgrips)

1. A handle.
   • 1951 October, “Models Assist Rolling Stock Design”, in Railway Magazine, page 647:

     As well as demonstrating operating facilities, full-size car body models are used for experimenting with new types of interior finish, systems of lighting, positioning of route diagrams and advertisements, and the best form of windscreens at doorways, and the height and location of handgrips and handrails.

   • 2005, Shirley Duglin Kennedy, The Savvy Guide to Motorcycles‎, →ISBN, page 30:

     On a motorcycle, you work the clutch by squeezing a lever on your left handgrip, and you operate the shift lever with your left foot.

2. A covering (often rubber or foam) on a handle, designed to allow the user a more comfortable or more secure hold on the handle.
   • 1994, Verolyn Bolander, Karen Creason Sorensen, Joan Luckmann, Sorensen and Luckmann's basic nursing: a psychophysiologic approach‎, →ISBN, page 837:

     Each cane consists of three parts: (1) the handle (which may or may not be covered by a rubber handgrip), (2) the shaft, and (3) the base (which is usually ...

3. A handshake; a way of gripping hands with another person.
   • 1988 March 11, Cecil Adams, “The Straight Dope”, in Chicago Reader‎:

     There are also "secret" signs and handgrips, which initiates are never supposed to reveal lest they suffer a fate worse than death.

4. The ability to grip something with a hand.
   • 1988, M.J. Viljoen, L.R. Uys, General nursing: a medical and surgical textbook, Part 1‎, →ISBN, page 138:

     The patient's handgrip is also tested for muscle strength.

5. A grasp or grip; a close struggle.