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.
-
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
-
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.
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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
-
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
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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:
Slowly, the Lakers and Luka Doncic found their groove against the Kings, pulling away for an uneven 116-103 win at Golden1 Center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
Ratings have dipped and the jury's still out, but critics say they are slowly getting into the groove.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Once he escaped, however, he settled into a familiar time-trial groove.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 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
He bobbed first, the way he did when he kept the groove with the Bluesmen.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Most primates have relatively large brains covered in distinctive folds and grooves.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 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
“Who Is The Sky?,” which Byrne made with the producer Kid Harpoon, contrasts deep lyrics about art, home and enlightenment with bright pop arrangements filled with crisp grooves and singalong melodies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Dew gathers on their skin and is channelled towards their mouths through microscopic grooves, while their tongues can also collect fog water condensed on plants, sand and rocks.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Over in the production group at ATK, a whole different division, they sometimes had trouble with a machine that inspected the booster rockets’ O-ring grooves to make sure there was no corrosion.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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
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
With one out in the top of the 10th, Kelly grooved an 89.5-mph slider to Caballero, who crushed a two-run homer to left-center for a 9-7 lead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2024
Miranda, one of the moons belonging to Uranus, features a patchwork of ridges and cliffs, grooved structures called coronae, and massive canyons up to twelve times deeper than the Grand Canyon.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
On those songs, the percussive combination of Messrs. Hussain and Harland is striking—lively and festive on “Jai Ganga”; slyly grooving on “Tagore”; slow and alluring on “Bharati’s Dance, Tempo Divine.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
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
The score also plays on the concept of time and uses electronic manipulation for ticking, grooving rhythmic passages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2024
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
It’s the kind of music Charlie was listening to on his headphones, and he starts grooving in the middle of the street.
From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya
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