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grovel

 - 5 dictionary results

grov⋅el

  [gruhv-uhl, grov-]
Use grovel in a Sentence
–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) + -ling 2 , 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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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grov·el   (grŏv'əl, grŭv'-)   
intr.v.   grov·eled also grov·elled, grov·el·ing also grov·el·ling, grov·els also grov·els

  1. To behave in a servile or demeaning manner; cringe.

  2. To lie or creep in a prostrate position, as in subservience or humility.

  3. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
grovel [ˈgrɑvlæ]

  1. in.
    to fondle or pet. : They spent the whole time in the backseat groveling.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

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]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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