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.
   • 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 of a person (or other animal with hands) 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.

The two word term hand grip is also used instead, particularly when referring to the ability of a person to grip an object with his or her hand.

1. • 1991, Raoul Tubiana, “The Hand”, in Science‎, volume 5, page 542:

     There is a severe loss of hand grip in patients with higher lesions ...

• hand-gripe