grop·ing

[groh-ping]
adjective
1.
moving or going about clumsily or hesitantly; stumbling.
2.
showing or reflecting a desire to understand, especially something that proves puzzling: a groping scrutiny; a groping expression.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English; see grope, -ing2

grop·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged

grope

[grohp] verb, groped, grop·ing, noun
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:
before 900; Middle English gropien, Old English grāpian, derivative of grāp grasp; akin to gripe, grasp


1. fumble, probe, fish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Groping is always a great word to know.
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an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
grope (ɡrəʊp) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb (usually foll by for)
1.  to feel or search about uncertainly (for something) with the hands
2.  (intr; usually foll by for or after) to search uncertainly or with difficulty (for a solution, answer, etc)
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 gripe]
 
'gropingly
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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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
Its two bitterly opposed wings are groping towards a unity government.
He could sense her groping the air as she tried to give him a kiss.
It evoked an image of zombies, groping their way through life in an
  impenetrable fog.
Scientists often turn metaphorical when groping for ways to describe their
  esoteric profession.
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