up for grabs

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

up for grabs (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic, informal) Available for anyone to obtain, claim, decide, or win.
   • 1998 April 13, Salman Rushdie, “Mohandas Gandhi”, in Time:

     Gandhi today is up for grabs. He has become abstract, ahistorical, postmodern, no longer a man in and of his time but a freeloading concept.

   • 2006 November 5, Robert Hicks, “Opinion: Separate but Equal”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 July 2011:

     The Senate is up for grabs in November's election.

   • 2009 November 18, Julie Schmit, “China pushes solar, wind power development”, in USA Today, retrieved 12 July 2011:

     "In the transformation of clean technology, it's up for grabs whether the giants will be American or Chinese or from other countries," says Salzman.