grovel

English

Etymology

From Middle English *grovelen, from Old Norse grufla, grœfla (“to grovel”), from Proto-Germanic *grubilōną (“to dig, delve into”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ‑ (“to dig, scrape, scrabble, scratch”); akin to Old Norse á grufu (“on one's belly”) ( > Old Norse grúfa (“to lie face down, grovel”)). Cognate with Scots grovel, gruvil (“to grovel”), German grübeln (“to meditate, ponder”), Norwegian Nynorsk gruvla (“to grovel”). Compare also West Frisian groebeltsje (“to make a mess, skip school, skive”), Dutch grobbelen (“to grope, root, grub”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡrɒvəl/, /ˈɡrʌvəl/
• Rhymes: -ɒvəl
• Rhymes: -ʌvəl

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

grovel (third-person singular simple present grovels, present participle (UK) grovelling or (US) groveling, simple past and past participle (UK) grovelled or (US) groveled)

1. (intransitive) To be prone on the ground.
2. (intransitive) To crawl.
   • 1985, Shane MacGowan (lyrics and music), “The Old Main Drag”, in Rum Sodomy & the Lash, performed by The Pogues:

     In the tube station, the old ones who were on the way out / Would dribble and vomit and grovel and shout

3. (intransitive) To abase oneself before another person.
4. (intransitive) To be slavishly nice to someone or apologize in the hope of securing something.
5. (intransitive) To take pleasure in mundane activities. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• groveler / groveller

Translations

to be prone on the ground

• Bulgarian: лежа по очи (leža po oči)
• Finnish: olla rähmällään
• Italian: giacere bocconi, giacere prono
• Maori: tāpapa
• Russian: лежа́ть ниц impf (ležátʹ nic)

to crawl

• Bulgarian: пълзя (bg) (pǎlzja)
• Catalan: arrossegar (ca)
• Czech: plazit se
• Danish: krybe, kravle
• Dutch: kruipen (nl)
• Finnish: ryömiä (fi), madella (fi), kontata (fi)
• German: kriechen (de)
• Italian: strisciare (it)
• Russian: по́лзать (ru) (pólzatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: puzati (sh), plaziti (sh), gmizati (sh)
• Turkish: sürünmek (tr)

to abase oneself

• Azerbaijani: sürünmək (az), iməkləmək, alçalmaq
• Bulgarian: унижавам се (unižavam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: ponižovat se impf, plazit se impf
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: nöyristellä (fi), madella (fi), olla rähmällään
• French: s’abaisser (fr)
• German: kriechen (de), katzbuckeln (de), auf dem Bauch rutschen
• Italian: abbassarsi (it), umiliarsi (it)
• Maori: whakapāpaku
• Russian: унижа́ться (ru) (unižátʹsja), пресмыка́ться (ru) (presmykátʹsja)
• Spanish: humillarse (es)
• Turkish: sürünmek (tr)

to be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something

• Bulgarian: подмазвам се (podmazvam se), раболепнича (bg) (rabolepniča)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: lízat paty impf
• Dutch: kruipen (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: mielistellä (fi)
• French: larbiner (fr)
• German: kriechen (de), schleimen (de)
• Hebrew: התרפס (he) (hitrapés)
• Italian: ingraziarsi (it)
• Russian: пресмыка́ться (ru) (presmykátʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian: puzati (sh)
• Spanish: arrastrarse (es), humillarse (es)
• Turkish: ayaklarına/dizlerine kapanmak (tr), sürünmek (tr)

to take pleasure in mundane things

• Finnish: rypeä (fi)
• Italian: grufolarsi

Anagrams

• Glover, Vogler, glover