Grovel
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Grovel \Grov"el\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Groveled}or {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]
from
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."
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
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}]
from
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
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