grope
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to seek by or as if by groping.
to grope one's way up the dark stairs.
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Slang. to touch or fondle (someone) for sexual pleasure, especially without the person’s consent.
noun
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an act or instance of groping.
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Slang. an act or instance of sexually fondling another person.
verb
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to feel or search about uncertainly (for something) with the hands
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(intr; usually foll by for or after) to search uncertainly or with difficulty (for a solution, answer, etc)
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(tr) to find or make (one's way) by groping
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slang (tr) to feel or fondle the body of (someone) for sexual gratification
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have gropedperfect
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has gropedperfect 3rd person singular
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is gropingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am gropingprogressive 1st person singular
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are gropingprogressive
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has been gropingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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gropingparticiple
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have been gropingperfect progressive
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gropessingular 3rd person
Past
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had gropedperfect
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were gropingprogressive plural
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was gropingprogressive singular
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had been gropingperfect progressive
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gropedparticiple
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gropedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of grope
Before 900; Middle English gropien, Old English grāpian, derivative of grāp “grasp”; akin to gripe, grasp
Explanation
When you grope for something, you try to get a grip on it. If you drop your flashlight in a dark cave, you might grope around for it. Beware of snakes! If you're asked a question and you grope for an answer, you're at a loss for words. And if you can't find your cellphone, you might grope around in your backpack, hoping it just got buried beneath your homework. You can also grope another person, although I wouldn't recommend it: grope is usually used to describe touching that is unwanted.
Vocabulary lists containing grope
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 16–19
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The Cay
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"Marriage is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Albert Grope is the September selection of the Book League of America.
From Time Magazine Archive
Albert Grope is a phenomenal book in other respects also.
From Time Magazine Archive
Grope dazedly through your initial explanation, creating the impression of someone who has just been dropped on his head from a great height.
From Time Magazine Archive
But it takes a typically Victorian literary license to account for the difference between the groping timidities of Albert Grope and the caustic, scrupulous and sometimes slightly patronizing style of his more mature meditations.
From Time Magazine Archive
It is thy Poet whom thy hands Grope for, not knowing.
From Poems by Jean Ingelow, In Two Volumes, Volume II. by Ingelow, Jean
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
