Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
grope - 5 dictionary results

grope

  [grohp] verb, groped, grop⋅ing, noun
Use grope in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to feel about with the hands; feel one's way: I had to grope around in the darkness before I found the light switch.
2. to search blindly or uncertainly: He seemed to be groping for an answer to the question.
–verb (used with object)
3. to seek by or as if by groping: to grope one's way up the dark stairs.
4. to touch or handle (someone) for sexual pleasure.
–noun
5. an act or instance of groping.
6. Slang. an act or instance of sexually fondling another person.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME gropien, OE grāpian, deriv. of grāp grasp; akin to gripe, grasp

Synonyms:
1. fumble, probe, fish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To grope
grope   (grōp)   
v.   groped, grop·ing, gropes

v.   intr.
  1. To reach about uncertainly; feel one's way: groped for the telephone.
  2. To search blindly or uncertainly: grope for an answer.
v.   tr.
  1. To make (one's way) by reaching about uncertainly.
  2. Slang To handle or fondle for sexual pleasure.
n.  The act or an instance of groping.

[Middle English gropen, from Old English grāpian.]
grop'er n., grop'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Grope

Grope\ (gr[=o]p), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Groped (gr[=o]pt); p. pr. & vb. n. Groping.] [OE. gropen, gropien, grapien, AS. gr[=a]pian to touch, grope, fr. gr[imac]pan to gripe. See Gripe.]

1. To feel with or use the hands; to handle. [Obs.]

2. To search or attempt to find something in the dark, or, as a blind person, by feeling; to move about hesitatingly, as in darkness or obscurity; to feel one's way, as with the hands, when one can not see.

We grope for the wall like the blind. --Is. lix. 10.

To grope a little longer among the miseries and sensualities ot a worldly life. --Buckminster.

Grope

Grope\, v. t. 1. To search out by feeling in the dark; as, we groped our way at midnight.

2. To examine; to test; to sound. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Felix gropeth him, thinking to have a bribe. --Genevan Test. (Acts xxiv. ).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : grope
Spanish: andar, *buscar a tientas, tantear,
German: tasten,
Japanese: 手探りする
More Translations »

grope 
O.E. grapian "to feel about as one blind or in darkness," originally "to feel or handle," related to gripan "grasp at" (see gripe). Fig. sense is from c.1325. Indecent sense (marked as "obsolete" in OED) is from c.1300.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see grope on Thesaurus | Reference