grope
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To grope
00:10
Grope
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. |
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
grope (ɡrəʊp) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb (usually foll by for) | |
| 1. | to feel or search about uncertainly (for something) with the hands |
| 2. | (intr; |
| 3. | (tr) to find or make (one's way) by groping |
| 4. | slang (tr) to feel or fondle the body of (someone) for sexual gratification |
| —n | |
| 5. | the act of groping |
| [Old English grāpian; related to Old High German greifōn, Norwegian greipa; compare | |
| 'gropingly | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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 early 14c. Indecent sense (marked as "obsolete" in OED) is from c.1300.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Most people immediately declare that these acts are wrong and then grope to justify why they are wrong.
As rival leaders grope for a definition of the centre-left, however, a political gap is opening up to their left.
And the only alternative is a grope down or a grope up.
Human babies gum and grope for things to soothe the pain, handling all possibilities before putting them into their mouths.
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