groping

American  

[groh-ping] / ˈgroʊ pɪŋ /

adjective

1. moving or going about clumsily or hesitantly; stumbling.

2. showing or reflecting a desire to understand, especially something that proves puzzling.

   a groping scrutiny; a groping expression.

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Other Word Forms

• gropingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of groping

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at grope, -ing ²

Example Sentences

Groping for competitive edge, some may have found or created protection within membranes and walls, leading to the first cells.

From National Geographic • Jan. 14, 2021

Groping blindly, European and especially British explorers began trying to map this seascape beginning in the late 1500s — leading to a series of small advances, smattered with setbacks and tragedies, over centuries.

From Washington Post • Dec. 19, 2017

Groping for an answer, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black argues that any ban on obscenity threatens free speech.

From Time Magazine Archive

Groping slowly into the bay, Leetsma exited first, followed shortly by a quicker, livelier Sullivan, who cried, "This is great!"

From Time Magazine Archive

Groping his way along, he found a chair and sat down slowly.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett