grovel

5 definitions found

grovel - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  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 flat on one's belly, expressive of
        abjectness; to crawl.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              To creep and grovel on the ground.    --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To tend toward, or delight in, what is sensual or base; to
        be low, abject, or mean.
        [1913 Webster]

grovel - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  grovel
      v 1: show submission or fear [syn: fawn, crawl, creep,
           cringe, cower, grovel]

grovel - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  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."
  
     [Jargon File]
  

grovel - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  grovel
   vi.
  
     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."
  

grovel - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  94 Moby Thesaurus words for "grovel":
     apple-polish, be promiscuous, bend, bend the knee, bend the neck,
     bend to, bootlick, bow, bow and scrape, bow down, bow to,
     chase women, commit adultery, couch, cower, crawl, creep, cringe,
     cringe to, crouch, crouch before, curtsy, debauch, dissipate,
     do homage, do obeisance, fawn, flatter, flounder, fornicate,
     genuflect, get down, go on tiptoe, gumshoe, hug the earth, hunch,
     hunch down, inch, inch along, kneel, kneel to, knuckle to, kowtow,
     lay, lick the dust, lickspittle, lie, lie down, lie flat,
     lie limply, lie low, lie prone, lie prostrate, lie under, loll,
     lounge, nightwalk, pad, philander, prowl, pussyfoot, rake, recline,
     repose, roll, scrabble, scramble, scrouch down, sidle,
     sleep around, slink, snake, sneak, sprawl, squat, steal,
     steal along, stoop, swing, tippytoe, tiptoe, toadeat, toady,
     truckle, truckle to, tumble, underlie, wallow, wanton, welter,
     whore, womanize, worm, worm along