take is a general term applicable to any manner of getting something into one's possession or control.
take some salad from the bowl
seize implies a sudden and forcible movement in getting hold of something tangible or an apprehending of something fleeting or elusive when intangible.
seized the suspect
grasp stresses a laying hold so as to have firmly in possession.
grasp the handle and pull
clutch suggests avidity or anxiety in seizing or grasping and may imply less success in holding.
clutching her purse
snatch suggests more suddenness or quickness but less force than seize.
snatched a doughnut and ran
grab implies more roughness or rudeness than snatch.
grabbed roughly by the arm
Example Sentences
Verb I had to clutch the counter to keep from falling. The child clutched her mother's hand firmly. He had a book clutched in his hand. Adjective She scored a clutch basket.
Word History
Etymology
Verb and Noun (1)
Middle English clucchen, from Old English clyccan
Noun (2)
alteration of dialect English cletch hatching, brood