grip
n. C / Un. a firm hold on something with your hand. It can also mean your ability to control or understand a situation.
n. a firm hold or grasp on an object; figuratively, the power of control or a mental grasp of a concept.
He lost his grip on the heavy suitcase.
The new manager is finally getting a grip on the company's complicated financial situation.
The icy conditions caused the tires to lose their grip on the asphalt, sending the vehicle into a slow, uncontrollable slide toward the shoulder.
Verb from Middle English grippen, from Old English grippan, from a Proto-Germanic gripjaną (compare Old High German gripfen); compare the related Old English grīpan, whence English gripe. See also grope, and the related Proto-Germanic grīpaną. Noun from Middle English grippe, gripe, an amalgam of Old English gripe (“grasp, hold”) (cognate with German Griff) and Old English gripa (“handful”) (cognate with Swedish grepp).
From Middle English grip, grippe, gryppe (“a ditch, drain”), from Old English grēp (“a furrow, burrow”) and grēpe (“a furrow, ditch, drain”), from Proto-Germanic *grōpiz (“a furrow, groove”). Cognate with Middle Dutch grippe, gruppe (“ditch, drain”), greppe, German Low German Gruppe (“ditch, drain”). Related also to Old English grōp (“a ditch, drain”). More at groop.
Often used in the idiomatic phrase 'to get a grip' or 'to lose one's grip'.