(a) To grope, feel around; graspen about; (b) to reach with the hand(s; graspen after (on, to), reach for (sth.); (c) ppl.grasping, petting, caressing, cajoling.
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A derivational suffix in words from OE and borrowings from ON, MLG, and MDu.: (nouns) balk(e, larke, etc.; (verbs) lurken, runken, sanken, skulken, etc. It occasionally occurs in ME or possibly ME……