Complaining constantly or bitterly about something; grumbling or expressing dissatisfaction; also means to cause sharp abdominal pain.
From Old English 'gripan' (to seize or grasp), related to Old Norse 'greipa.' The sense 'to complain' developed in American English by the 1890s, possibly metaphorically from the idea of gripping or clutching with complaint.
The word 'gripe' has two totally separate meanings that somehow both survived: medical (stomach gripes = sharp pain) and emotional (griping = complaining). They might be connected through the idea of something 'gripping' or squeezing you—either literally or figuratively.
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