grovel
verbVerb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they grovel | |
| he / she / it grovels | |
| past simple grovelled | |
| past participle grovelled | |
| (US English) past simple groveled | |
| (US English) past participle groveled | |
| -ing form grovelling | |
| (US English) -ing form groveling |
- [intransitive] grovel (to somebody) (for something) (disapproving)
to show too much respect to somebody who is more important than you or who can give you something you want 卑躬屈膝；俯首贴耳；奴颜婢膝 He went grovelling to her for forgiveness. 他卑躬屈膝地去求她宽恕。 I’ve made a terrible mistake. Now I have to go back and grovel for my job. 我犯了一个可怕的错误。现在我不得不回去为我的工作卑躬屈膝。
- [intransitive] + adv./prep.
to move along the ground on your hands and knees, especially because you are looking for something 爬行，匍匐（尤指找东西） She was grovelling around on the floor, looking for her contact lens. 她趴在地板上，寻找她的隐形眼镜。
Word OriginMiddle English: back-formation from the obsolete adverb grovelling, from obsolete groof, grufe ‘the face or front’ (in the phrase on grufe, from Old Norse á grúfu ‘face downwards’) + the suffix -ling.