7 results for: grovel Browse Nearby Entries
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
grov·el    Audio Help   [gruhv-uhl, 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.]

grov·el·er; especially British, grov·el·ler, noun
grov·el·ing·ly; especially British, grov·el·ling·ly, adverb

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

To learn more about grovel visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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
  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.
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
grovel

verb
show submission or fear [syn: fawn

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
grovel [ˈgrovl] verbpast 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
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
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]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Browse Nearby Entries:

grouting
groutlock brick
groutnol
grouts
grouty
grov
grove
grove city
grove's
grove, george
grove, george, sir
grove, lefty
grove, robert moses
grove, sir
grove, sir george
groved
grovel
groveled
groveler
groveless
groveling
grovelingly
grovelled
groveller
grovelling
grovellingly
grovels
grover
grover cleveland
grover cleveland alexande..
groves
groves'
groves, leslie richard

View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web

Share This:   Share This: del.icio.usShare This: digg.comShare This: FacebookShare This: furl.netShare This: www.netscape.comShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: www.google.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: blinklist.comShare This: newsvine.comShare This: ma.gnolia.comShare This: reddit.comShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: tailrank.com

Perform a new search, or try your search for "grovel" at: