grope

1 of 2

verb

groped; groping

intransitive verb

1
: to feel about blindly or uncertainly in search
grope for the light switch
2
: to look for something blindly or uncertainly
grope for the right words
3
: to feel one's way
groped along the dark passage

transitive verb

1
: feel up
claims that her boss tried to grope her
2
: to find (one's way) by groping
groper noun

grope

2 of 2

noun

plural gropes
: an act of groping
made a grope for the light switch
And what are these clumsy, embarrassing, fumbling encounters if they are not passes, beery gropes in the dark?Nick Hornby

Examples of grope in a Sentence

Verb I groped for the light switch. She groped around in her purse, looking for her comb. We groped along the dark passage. She claims that her boss tried to grope her.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
In the latest complaint, a woman identified as Jane Doe alleges that Lythgoe pinned her against a wall and forcibly groped her and licked her neck in 2018. Katcy Stephan, Variety, 5 Mar. 2024 India’s female wrestlers staged demonstrations starting in January last year against the chair of the wrestling federation, accusing him of repeatedly groping women over the previous decade. Anant Gupta, Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2024 That groping for signposts in a fogbound landscape was on display in remarks by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday morning. Mark Landler, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2024 Read Next Florida Walmart employee wouldn’t stop groping co-workers, lawsuit says. Mitchell Willetts, Kansas City Star, 20 Feb. 2024 In October 2016, following the revelation that Trump had been caught on tape bragging about groping women, Debbie Meadows and other Republican congressional wives got on a bus chartered by Women for Trump to drive around North Carolina, a swing state, to defend him. Robert Draper, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2024 One recent case filed in the Western District of Washington involved a North Carolina man groping a 15-year-old traveler sitting next to him on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, McClatchy News previously reported. Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2024 The lawsuit claims that Diesel, who allegedly ignored Jonasson’s refusals, continued groping her body and dropped to his knees before pushing up her dress, groping her legs and attempting to pull down her underwear. Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2023 At one point, upper management reviewed security footage after a theft report and saw Garner grope the girl, according to the court document. Jennifer Rodriguez, Kansas City Star, 6 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grope.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English grāpian; akin to Old English grīpan to seize

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

circa 1513, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of grope was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near grope

Cite this Entry

“Grope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grope. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

grope

verb
groped; groping
1
: to seek by or as if by feeling around uncertainly
groped for the light switch
grope for the right word
2
: to feel one's way by groping
grope along a wall

More from Merriam-Webster on grope

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