Word: gripping
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...things are nastier than family squabbles about money, and the Gettys' disputes were nastier than most. They began when J. Paul demanded his birthright from his father. After George F.'s death in 1930, the ambitious son set about loosening the widow's grip on her trust fund. When he succeeded, according to Biographer Lenzner, he boasted to an acquaintance, "I just fleeced my mother." His own will was engorged with codicils that treated beneficiaries like stocks on an exchange. One result was that suits and countersuits by Getty heirs cost more than $13 million in legal fees...
...Senate chambers, Congressmen must run a gauntlet of lobbyists who sometimes express their views on legislation by pointing their thumbs up or down. Not long ago, Senator John Danforth, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, could be seen on the Capitol steps trying to wrench his hand from the grip of a lobbyist for the textile industry seeking new protectionist legislation. Though Danforth himself wants help for the shoe, auto and agricultural industries in his native Missouri, the Senator, an ordained Episcopal minister, rolled his eyes heavenward and mumbled, "Save me from these people...
...sparsely inhabited outpost of little interest to anyone. By last week it had become the locus of some of the fiercest fighting in the Iran-Iraq war, as Iraqi troops mounted a blistering counterattack against dug-in Iranian invaders. By week's end Iran still held its grip on the peninsula. And neighboring Arab sheikdoms began to wonder whether Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had lost the initiative on the battlefield to the Iranian juggernaut...
...mounting a military coup, and would support Aquino against Marcos. "I believe in my whole heart that Aquino was duly elected President," said Enrile. "She is the rightful owner of the mandate of the people." Perhaps. But there was no indication that Marcos was prepared to loosen his lock grip on power without a fight. By week's end he was making increasingly menacing noises about taking action to "liquidate" the forces backing the two rebels. "We will not be able to stay from forceful action for very long," he warned...
...plural context, as in "the government are concerned." Once Greeley impatiently cabled one of his correspondents, "Are there any news?" Back came the answer: "Sorry, not a single new." That unsung correspondent may only have intended a funny reply, but he appears to have had a firm grip on what needs to be reported...