MEANING
1. To seek favour or forgiveness in an excessively submissive way.
2. To lie, crawl, or move with the body pressed close to the ground.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- grovel for forgiveness
- grovel before someone
On the page
She refused to grovel for a position she had already earned.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- grovel
- Past tense
- grovelled or groveled
- Past participle
- grovelled or groveled
- Present participle
- grovelling or groveling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- grovel
- Present continuous
- am/is/are grovelling or groveling
- Present perfect
- have/has grovelled or groveled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been grovelling or groveling
- Past
- grovelled or groveled
- Past continuous
- was/were grovelling or groveling
- Past perfect
- had grovelled or groveled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been grovelling or groveling
- Future
- will grovel
- Future continuous
- will be grovelling or groveling
- Future perfect
- will have grovelled or groveled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been grovelling or groveling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: grovel; grovels; grovelled or groveled; grovelled or groveled; grovelling or groveling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: grovels.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.