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)
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grooved,
past participle, past
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grooving
present participle
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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
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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.
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-
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
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are groovingprogressive
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is groovingprogressive
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have been groovingperfect progressive
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has been groovingperfect progressive
Past
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groovedsimple
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had groovedperfect
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was groovingprogressive
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were groovingprogressive
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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:
“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
“This is a signal that the economy may be finally finding its groove coming out of the pandemic,” said Wells Fargo economist Shannon Grein.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
It has a twangy guitar, stately woodwinds and a loping groove that makes you feel like you’re nudging a herd of cattle through a mountain pass on a cloudless day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The bone has short projections extending outward that resemble horns, and it lacks a ventral median groove.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
He tried to bump the cart out of the groove; it was too heavy to be easily bounced.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Both of the hunter-gatherers showed an unusual dental wear pattern with deep, rounded tooth grooves, which the researchers found was caused by sucking whole betel nuts.
From BBC ● 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
In the new study, researchers examined several kinds of depressions, punctures, holes, and grooves that appeared to have been left by teeth.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
Heavy on grooves and jams, this album sometimes feels unfocused and indulgent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
The streak courses through the gilded grooves, headed for the glass.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Everything was utterly rhythmical, repetitive and perfectly grooved.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Still, the energy in the room remained high as the crowd sang, bobbed their heads and grooved to the music from the comfort of their plush seats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2026
The ray is able to swim at just the right speed that water, streaming into its mouth, can form vortices between the grooved plates.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
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
He nocked it, let it rest across the handgrip, and drew the string and grooved butt of the arrow, aiming from where he sat upon the stool.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
He tells Newsbeat he finds creating and attending dance events "just changes something in your brain because you're just there grooving non-stop".
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
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
Even in its earliest manifestations, there was a peculiar combination of grooving energy and inherent sadness in their music that would pervade their hitmaking efforts with Fleetwood Mac and beyond.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 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
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.
