groove
Americannoun
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grooves
plural
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a long, narrow cut or indentation in a surface, as the cut in a board to receive the tongue of another board tongue-and-groove joint, a furrow, or a natural indentation on an organism.
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the track or channel of a phonograph record for the needle or stylus.
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a fixed routine.
to get into a groove.
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Printing. the furrow at the bottom of a piece of type.
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Slang. an enjoyable time or experience.
verb (used with object)
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grooves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
grooved,
past participle, past
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grooving
present participle
-
to cut a groove in; furrow.
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Slang.
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to appreciate and enjoy.
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to please immensely.
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verb (used without object)
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grooves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
grooved,
past participle, past
-
grooving
present participle
-
Slang.
-
to take great pleasure; enjoy oneself.
He was grooving on the music.
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to get along or interact well.
-
-
to fix in a groove.
idioms
noun
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a long narrow channel or furrow, esp one cut into wood by a tool
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the spiral channel, usually V-shaped, in a gramophone record See also microgroove
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one of the spiral cuts in the bore of a gun
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anatomy any furrow or channel on a bodily structure or part; sulcus
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mountaineering a shallow fissure in a rock face or between two rock faces, forming an angle of more than 120°
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a settled existence, routine, etc, to which one is suited or accustomed, esp one from which it is difficult to escape
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slang an experience, event, etc, that is groovy
-
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jazz playing well and apparently effortlessly, with a good beat, etc
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fashionable
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verb
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(tr) to form or cut a groove in
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old-fashioned (intr) to enjoy oneself or feel in rapport with one's surroundings
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(intr) jazz to play well, with a good beat, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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groovesimple
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groovessimple
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have groovedperfect
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has groovedperfect
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am groovingprogressive
-
are groovingprogressive
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is groovingprogressive
-
have been groovingperfect progressive
-
has been groovingperfect progressive
Past
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groovedsimple
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had groovedperfect
-
was groovingprogressive
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were groovingprogressive
-
had been groovingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of groove
1350–1400; Middle English grofe, groof mining shaft; cognate with Middle Dutch groeve, Dutch groef, German Grube pit, ditch; akin to grave 1
Explanation
A groove is an indentation or rut in something — like the grooves on an old record. Groove is rooted in an old Dutch word for "furrow" or "ditch." And that's just what a groove is: a carved out line, like wheel ruts in a muddy road or the narrow opening that a sliding door moves in. If you can't "find your groove," you feel off track and out of whack. But when you're "in the groove," everything is working smoothly and you've found a good routine. And if someone says "let's groove!", they want to dance.
Vocabulary lists containing groove
Look Both Ways
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A Single Shard
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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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.
See Examples For:
He was consistently playing at less than 100%, missing time and never really finding a groove.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
“Neon Signs,” with vocals by Andrew Wyatt of electro-pop trio Miike Snow, has an appealing groove and worthy harmonies, but you can’t help but wish the chorus were considerably better.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
“Kind of getting in the groove of things, understanding everything a lot better out there playing a lot more free, a lot more loose and looking more like myself to me,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Using powerful atomic force microscopy, researchers watched short pieces of DNA align with extraordinary precision, matching one another groove for groove.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Stopping, he saw that one of the bicycle tires had lodged in the groove of a streetcar track.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
In contrast, the neighboring grooves between these ridges, called sulci, still contained considerable amyloid buildup.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
The U.S. release ended up with an altered track listing that highlighted the group’s folkier leanings; Joni Mitchell wore the grooves out on her copy and slipped “Norwegian Wood” into her coffeehouse sets in Detroit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Computer simulations then revealed what appears to make this close contact possible: positively charged metal ions can settle into the grooves of DNA and serve as tiny molecular bridges between the two molecules.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Mr. Iyer’s left hand is more than up to the task of the low-end contrapuntal motion that Mr. Threadgill’s music demands, and Mr. Prieto long ago mastered his idea of frictionless grooves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
She admired a Douglas fir’s complicated bark, followed its grooves to the canopy of branches two hundred feet above.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Everything was utterly rhythmical, repetitive and perfectly grooved.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Three pitches into the bottom of the sixth, Sheehan grooved a fastball to Marsh, and he hit it out for a 5-3 lead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
On the floors of many valleys and craters, swirling, grooved patterns reveal where icy material once moved during an earlier martian ice age.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2025
During Bomba Estéreo’s energizing set, a dozen or so kids, some atop their parents’ bouncing shoulders, grooved to the vibrantly clopping percussion on the hard-surface dance floor laid in front of the stage.
From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2024
I bulldozed blindly through West Virginia, plunged into Pennsylvania and grooved Rocinante to the great wide turnpike.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Mr. Cameron’s characters must learn the gentle wisdom of grooving along with nature, literally making themselves a part of Pandora in gestures of eco-unity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
People also used the song endlessly, grooving and saying the song makes them want to have their own country love story, while wearing cowboy boots and a matching hat.
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2024
Anderson has aged better than George Clooney, mastering his craft and grooving his action to give the impression he has completed fast bowling.
From BBC ● May 12, 2024
His 2021 debut album, “Prosthetic Boombox,” celebrated his visible disability over deeply grooving synth funk inspired by Zapp and the Gap Band.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
And Gerald's always grooving right next to her, watching her every move.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
