grovel
verb /ˈɡrɒvl/
/ˈɡrɑːvl/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they grovel | /ˈɡrɒvl/ /ˈɡrɑːvl/ |
| he / she / it grovels | /ˈɡrɒvlz/ /ˈɡrɑːvlz/ |
| past simple grovelled | /ˈɡrɒvld/ /ˈɡrɑːvld/ |
| past participle grovelled | /ˈɡrɒvld/ /ˈɡrɑːvld/ |
| (US English) past simple groveled | /ˈɡrɒvld/ /ˈɡrɑːvld/ |
| (US English) past participle groveled | /ˈɡrɒvld/ /ˈɡrɑːvld/ |
| -ing form grovelling | /ˈɡrɒvlɪŋ/ /ˈɡrɑːvlɪŋ/ |
| (US English) -ing form groveling | /ˈɡrɒvlɪŋ/ /ˈɡrɑːvlɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] grovel (to somebody) (for something) (disapproving) to show too much respect to somebody who is more important than you or who can give you something you want synonym crawl
- He went grovelling to her for forgiveness.
- I’ve made a terrible mistake. Now I have to go back and grovel for my job.
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. to move along the ground on your hands and knees, especially because you are looking for something
- She was grovelling around on the floor, looking for her contact lens.
Word OriginMiddle English: back-formation from the obsolete adverb grovelling, from obsolete groof, grufe ‘the face or front’ (in the phrase on grufe, from Old Norse á grúfu ‘face downwards’) + the suffix -ling.