grovel - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

grov·el

Audio Help [gruhv-uh

l, grov-] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used without object), -eled, -el·ing or (especially British

) -elled, -el·ling.

1.	to humble oneself or act in an abject manner, as in great fear or utter servility.

2.	to lie or crawl with the face downward and the body prostrate, esp. in abject humility, fear, etc.

3.	to take pleasure in mean or base things.

[Origin: 1585–95; back formation from obs. groveling (adv.), equiv. to obs. grufe face down (< ON ā grūfu face down) + -ling², taken to be prp.

]

—Related forms

grov·el·er; especially British, grov·el·ler, noun

grov·el·ing·ly; especially British, grov·el·ling·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. truckle, toady, fawn, kowtow, pander.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
grovel

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

grov·el Audio Help (grŏv'əl, grŭv'-) Pronunciation Key
intr.v. grov·eled also grov·elled, grov·el·ing also grov·el·ling, grov·els also grov·els

To behave in a servile or demeaning manner; cringe.
To lie or creep in a prostrate position, as in subservience or humility.
To give oneself over to base pleasures: "Have we not groveled here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?" (Walt Whitman).

[Back-formation from obsolete groveling, prone, face downward, from Middle English : (on) grufe, face downwards (from Old Norse ā grūfu, from grūfa, to grovel) + -ling, adv. suff.; see -ling².]

grov'el·er n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
grovel

1593, Shakespearian back-formation of M.E. groveling, regarded as a prp. but really an adv., from O.N. grufe "prone" + obsolete adverbial suffix -ling (which survives also as the -long in headlong, sidelong); first element from O.N. a grufu "on proneness." Perhaps related to creep.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

grovel
verb
show submission or fear [syn: fawn]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
grovel [ˈgrovl] verb — past tense, past participle ˈgrovelled, (American) ˈgroveled

to make oneself (too) humble
Example: He grovelled before his leader.

Arabic:	يَتَذَلَّل أمام رؤسائِه
Chinese (Simplified):	卑躬屈膝
Chinese (Traditional):	卑躬屈膝
Czech:	plazit se (před)
Danish:	krybe; ligge på maven for
Estonian:	lömitama
Finnish:	madella
French:	s'aplatir
German:	kriechen
Greek:	γίνομαι δουλοπρεπής, σέρνομαι
Hungarian:	megalázkodik
Icelandic:	skríða fyrir e-m

Italian:	umiliarsi
Japanese:	ぺこぺこする
Korean:	비굴하게 행동하다
Lithuanian:	žemintis, šliaužioti
Polish:	płaszczyć się
Portuguese (Brazil):	rastejar
Portuguese (Portugal):	rastejar
Romanian:	a se umili
Russian:	пресмыкаться
Spanish:	humillarse, rebajarse, arrastrarse
Turkish:	kendini alçaltmak

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

grovel
1. To work interminably and without apparent progress. Often used transitively with "over" or "through". "The file scavenger has been groveling through the /usr directories for 10 minutes now." Compare grind and crunch. Emphatic form: "grovel obscenely".
2. To examine minutely or in complete detail. "The compiler grovels over the entire source program before beginning to translate it." "I grovelled through all the documentation, but I still couldn't find the command I wanted."
[The Jargon File]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Grovel

Grov"el\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Groveledor Grovelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Groveling or Grovelling.] [From OE. grovelinge, grufelinge, adv., on the face, prone, which was misunderstood as a p. pr.; cf. OE. gruf, groff, in the same sense; of Scand. origin, cf. Icel. gr[=u]fa, in [=a] gr[=u]fu on the face, prone, gr[=u]fa to grovel.]

1. To creep on the earth, or with the face to the ground; to lie prone, or move uneasily with the body prostrate on the earth; to lie fiat on one's belly, expressive of abjectness; to crawl.

To creep and grovel on the ground. --Dryden.

2. To tend toward, or delight in, what is sensual or base; to be low, abject, or mean.

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