grovels

present tense third-person singular of grovel
1
as in cringes
to draw back or crouch down in fearful submission the way in which the abused dog would grovel whenever its owner came near

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2
as in crawls
to move slowly with the body close to the ground because of their anatomy, bats can only grovel while moving along the ground

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grovels
Verb
  • The stranger’s curse seems intended to inflict pain not only on the snobbish Anna, who cringes at the slob her son has become, but her pushy husband Walter (Adriano Giannini).
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Payton cringes at the mention of a sophomore slump, that defenses will figure out Nix.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • There’s also a less than 10% chance of showers, if one of the hurricanes crawls farther up the coast, according to Wofford.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Hairy-nosed wombat births are hard to spot, as after about a 30-day pregnancy, the joey crawls into its mother’s pouch.
    — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 16 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Warner flinches not about a birthday that is often associated with the beginning of decline.
    — Dan Pompei, New York Times, 21 July 2026
  • Advertisement Throughout the narrative, Johnson never flinches in his portrayal of the wreck, unleashing footage of investigators approaching the car and the victims’ families.
    — Jake King-Schreifels, Time, 15 May 2026
Verb
  • The tone creeps into despair as the scales fall from Sutskever’s eyes.
    — E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Rain creeps back into the forecast by the middle of next week, when the tides are expected to be closer to normal.
    — Alex Harris Updated September 27, Miami Herald, 27 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • This isn’t a delicate living room speaker that cowers in a corner.
    — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Anaia, feeling jilted that the letter was addressed only to Racine, cowers in hurt, like a street cat.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
Verb
  • The new district snakes up through Kansas City’s urban core, in an attempt to create a district more favorable for Republicans in the 5th District.
    — Jack Harvel July 28, Kansas City Star, 28 July 2026
  • The story of McCarthy’s life was written on this winding street that snakes through a small, working-class corner of Pittsburgh where the Monongahela River bends.
    — Mike DeFabo, New York Times, 27 July 2026
Verb
  • Each secures and slides via a series of side rails that look very similar to the ones for adjusting height of the grates on my Camp Chef vault smoker.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 25 Sep. 2026
  • One more try and the orchestra slides up the expressive contrast a few notches to intensify the feeling of lurching from mood to mood.
    — Justin Davidson, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Grovels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grovels. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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