A death grip is an extremely tight grip, such as that exerted by a person in a panic for fear for their life. This was commonly thought to be a risk when rescuing a drowning person — that they would cling to their rescuer with a death grip which would cause them both to perish. Investigation showed that this did not actually happen in practise and so breaking a death grip is no longer emphasised in lifesaving. The actual behaviour of a drowning person is more passive as they lack the oxygen to take violent action and an instinctive paddling reflex occurs. The grip can also be lethal to living things.
Famous quotes containing the words death and/or grip:
“Death is too much for men to bear, whereas women, who are practiced in bearing the deaths of men before their own and who are also practiced in bearing life, take death almost in stride. They go to meet death—that is, they attempt suicide—twice as often as men, though men are more “successful” because they use surer weapons, like guns.”
—Roger Rosenblatt (b. 1940)
“When I first got here, every time you’d say “breast feeding” on the House floor there would be a snicker.... this has been happening since creation. Can we finally get a grip on it?”
—Susan Molinari (b. 1958)