groove

American  

[groov] / gruv /

noun

• grooves
  plural

1. 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.

2. the track or channel of a phonograph record for the needle or stylus.

3. a fixed routine.

   to get into a groove.

   Synonyms:

   pattern, habit, rut

4. Printing. the furrow at the bottom of a piece of type.

5. Slang. an enjoyable time or experience.

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verb (used with object)

• grooves,
  present (3rd person singular)
• grooved,
  past participle,  past
• grooving
  present participle

1. to cut a groove in; furrow.

2. Slang.

   1. to appreciate and enjoy.

   2. to please immensely.

verb (used without object)

• grooves,
  present (3rd person singular)
• grooved,
  past participle,  past
• grooving
  present participle

1. Slang.

   1. to take great pleasure; enjoy oneself.

      He was grooving on the music.

   2. to get along or interact well.

2. to fix in a groove.

idioms

1. in the groove,

   1. in perfect functioning order.

   2. in the popular fashion; up-to-date.

      If you want to be in the groove this summer, you'll need a bikini.

groove British  

/ ɡruːv /

noun

1. a long narrow channel or furrow, esp one cut into wood by a tool

2. the spiral channel, usually V-shaped, in a gramophone record See also microgroove

3. one of the spiral cuts in the bore of a gun

4. anatomy any furrow or channel on a bodily structure or part; sulcus

5. mountaineering a shallow fissure in a rock face or between two rock faces, forming an angle of more than 120°

6. a settled existence, routine, etc, to which one is suited or accustomed, esp one from which it is difficult to escape

7. slang an experience, event, etc, that is groovy

8. 1. jazz playing well and apparently effortlessly, with a good beat, etc

   2. fashionable

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verb

1. (tr) to form or cut a groove in

2. old-fashioned (intr) to enjoy oneself or feel in rapport with one's surroundings

3. (intr) jazz to play well, with a good beat, etc

groove More Idioms  

1. see in the groove.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• groover
  noun
• regroove
  verb (used with object)
• grooveless
  adjective
• groovelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• grooves
  plural

Participles

• grooving
  present
• grooved
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• groove
  simple
• grooves
  simple
• have grooved
  perfect
• has grooved
  perfect
• am grooving
  progressive
• are grooving
  progressive
• is grooving
  progressive
• have been grooving
  perfect progressive
• has been grooving
  perfect progressive

Past

• grooved
  simple
• had grooved
  perfect
• was grooving
  progressive
• were grooving
  progressive
• had been grooving
  perfect progressive

Future

• will groove
  simple
• will have grooved
  perfect
• will be grooving
  progressive
• will have been grooving
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

groove grooves grooved grooving

The bone has short projections extending outward that resemble horns, and it lacks a ventral median groove.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

On Misunderstood, she laughs at the people who told her she'd "never make it on her own"; while the laid back groove of Treasure allows Starr to pause and savour her success.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Yet every now and then the Strokes, who absolutely ripped at Coachella in April, lock into a groove with the springy precision that’s been the band’s signature since the beginning.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Oh yes, and drummer Charlie Watts, whose feel for groove helped define the group’s sound, died in 2021.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Dorcas has been acknowledged, appraised and dismissed in the time it takes for a needle to find its opening groove.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

Heavy on grooves and jams, this album sometimes feels unfocused and indulgent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Paired with bubbly disco grooves and chant-along choruses, the band became gay icons overnight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Over subsequent releases – the exuberant Shooting Star, or the braggadocious Woke Up – they crystallised a musical vision that fused sci-fi aesthetics to the elastic grooves of 90s R&B.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

First, grooves that resemble “toothpick” marks don’t necessarily prove tool use.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026

Reactions to the Farewell Address fell into the familiar grooves.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Rushing hammered the grooved fastball to left-center field, just shy of the Citizens Bank Park concourse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

One location stood out due to the discovery of about 80 grooved stone axes, which were used to break down and process ore.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 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

Buehler gave up a two-run double to David Peralta and grooved an 0-and-2 fastball to Fernando Tatis Jr., who crushed a rally-capping two-run homer to left-center field.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2024

I reach up and touch the small pewter claddagh Celtic cross I have worn since I was six, tracking the grooved outline of the heart with my finger.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

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

I distinctly remember being on the family Mac in Brasília at 13 years old, grooving to a CD I’d just burned and thinking: If only my future friends at my new school could hear this.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 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

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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