grovel

verb

groveled or grovelled; groveling or grovelling

intransitive verb

1
: to creep with the face to the ground : crawl
2
a
: to lie or creep with the body prostrate in token of subservience or abasement
groveled at the feet of the king
b
: to abase oneself
would not grovel for political advantage
3
: to give oneself over to what is base or unworthy : wallow
groveling in self-pity
groveler noun
grovelingly adverb

Examples of grovel in a Sentence

The peasants groveled before the king. He had to grovel to get her to accept his apology. He made a groveling apology to his girlfriend.
Recent Examples on the Web After the fallout of episode 7, plenty of dudes should be grovelling for forgiveness right now. Alexandra Koster, refinery29.com, 7 Feb. 2024 Like many — including the groveling Rubio, Scott and Stefanik — Johnson was once a Trump critic. Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2024 At which point, according to her friends, Brenner would grovel and beg her to keep him. Lisa Depaulo, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2024 The man, referred to in court documents as John Doe #2, pleaded with the crowd to not beat him up, according to prosecutors, and groveled while on his knees. Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2024 See all Example Sentences for grovel 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grovel.' 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

back-formation from groveling prone, from groveling, adverb, from Middle English, from gruf, adverb, on the face (from Old Norse ā grūfu) + -ling

First Known Use

1552, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of grovel was in 1552

Dictionary Entries Near grovel

Cite this Entry

“Grovel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grovel. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

grovel

verb
groveled or grovelled; groveling or grovelling
-(ə-)liŋ
1
: to creep or lie face down on the ground (as in fear)
2
: to degrade oneself by behaving in an excessively submissive way : cringe
groveler noun
or groveller
-(ə-)lər

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