Crossword clues for grovel
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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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.
To creep and grovel on the ground.
--Dryden. To tend toward, or delight in, what is sensual or base; to be low, abject, or mean.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1590s, Shakespearian back-formation of groveling (Middle English), regarded as a present participle but really an adverb, from Old Norse grufe "prone" + obsolete adverbial suffix -ling (which survives also as the -long in headlong, sidelong); first element from Old Norse a grufu "on proneness." Perhaps related to creep. Related: Groveled; grovelled; groveling; grovelling.
Wiktionary
vb. 1 To be prone on the ground. 2 To crawl 3 To abase oneself before another person. 4 To be nice to someone or apologize in the hope of securing something. 5 To take pleasure in mundane activities.
WordNet
Usage examples of "grovel".
I remember what the German absurdist poet Kurt Tucholsky said about his countrymen and counters: they all grovel in front of them, and aspire to sit behind them.
To show any emotion in the presence of the Atabeg was unwise, although groveling was acceptable after a certain point in the interview.
The grovelling Ebionite, and the fantastic Docetes, were rejected and forgotten: the recent zeal against the errors of Apollinaris reduced the Catholics to a seeming agreement with the double nature of Cerinthus.
But, gradually, as it was borne in upon him that it was the only course possible, unless he were to grovel before Hargate on the morrow and ask for time to payan unthinkable alternativehe found himself contemplating the possibility of having to secure the money by unlawful means.
Then there was the problem of cramming Schrutt down into the pitlike cage, there he groveled in the sawdust, covering his eyes and throat.
Gavin broke from his grovelling position like a sprinter from his block, but the slops greased his heels, and threw him off balance.
He would quickly motion for them to stand up and Anna Lee would run to the carriage and grovel at his feet in tears.
The grovelling Mole and creeping Shrew are as unlike the sprightly Tupaia, as it springs from branch to branch, whisking its long bushy tail, as it is possible to conceive.
Then, he and the others would become obsequious flunkies-the way capitalists liked their serfs to grovel.
Their groveling allegiance to developers is best manifested along a two-mile segment of University Drive in Plantation, where there are now no less than five malls and shopping centers.
When Tarl saw what he had not seen before, he began to pummel the groveling gnoll with his fists.
Groveling in a spreading pool of his urine, he clasped his beringed hands and raised them beseechingly.
No one can imagine how fatal it was to boys whose vitality was sapped by long months in Andersonville, by coarse, meager, changeless food, by groveling on the bare earth, and by hopelessness as to any improvement of condition.
The grovelling Ebionite, and the fantastic Docetes, were rejected and forgotten: the recent zeal against the errors of Apollinaris reduced the Catholics to a seeming agreement with the double nature of Cerinthus.
At first Babygirl was too astonished to comprehend, then she burst into tears of indignation and hurt, then she pleaded with the brute to be spared, then she flew into a tantrum tossing silky garments and such into a suitcase, then she was lying in a puddle on the bathroom floor, nights and days passed in a delirium, her keeper fed her grudgingly and at irregular intervals, there were promises of sunshine, greenery, Christmas gifts, promises made and withheld, then one day a masked figure appeared in the doorway, in leather military regalia, gloved hands on his hips, brass-studded belt, holster and pistol riding his hip, gleaming black leather boots the toes of which Babygirl eagerly kissed, groveling before him, twining her long curly-cinnamon hair around his ankles.