grope

American  

[grohp] / groʊp /

verb (used without object)

• gropes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• groped,
  past participle,  past
• groping
  present participle

1. to feel about with the hands; feel one's way.

   I had to grope around in the darkness before I found the light switch.

   Synonyms:

   fish, probe, fumble

2. to search blindly or uncertainly.

   He seemed to be groping for an answer to the question.

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verb (used with object)

• gropes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• groped,
  past participle,  past
• groping
  present participle

1. to seek by or as if by groping.

   to grope one's way up the dark stairs.

2. Slang. to touch or fondle (someone) for sexual pleasure, especially without the person’s consent.

noun

• gropes
  plural

1. an act or instance of groping.

2. Slang. an act or instance of sexually fondling another person.

grope British  

/ ɡrəʊp /

verb

1. to feel or search about uncertainly (for something) with the hands

2. (intr; usually foll by for or after) to search uncertainly or with difficulty (for a solution, answer, etc)

3. (tr) to find or make (one's way) by groping

4. slang (tr) to feel or fondle the body of (someone) for sexual gratification

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noun

1. the act of groping

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gropingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gropes
  plural

Participles

• groping
  present
• groped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• grope
  simple
• gropes
  simple
• have groped
  perfect
• has groped
  perfect
• am groping
  progressive
• are groping
  progressive
• is groping
  progressive
• have been groping
  perfect progressive
• has been groping
  perfect progressive

Past

• groped
  simple
• had groped
  perfect
• was groping
  progressive
• were groping
  progressive
• had been groping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will grope
  simple
• will have groped
  perfect
• will be groping
  progressive
• will have been groping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of grope

Before 900; Middle English gropien, Old English grāpian, derivative of grāp “grasp”; akin to gripe, grasp

Explanation

When you grope for something, you try to get a grip on it. If you drop your flashlight in a dark cave, you might grope around for it. Beware of snakes! If you're asked a question and you grope for an answer, you're at a loss for words. And if you can't find your cellphone, you might grope around in your backpack, hoping it just got buried beneath your homework. You can also grope another person, although I wouldn't recommend it: grope is usually used to describe touching that is unwanted.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grope gropes groped groping

From a leg-stump line, the ball appeared to then move in the air in the opposite direction, past Cook's crooked grope to kiss the top of off stump.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025

You grope your way through the phantom market, sometimes to the amused observation of waiting visitors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2023

“The Bravest — grope a little — And sometimes hit a Tree Directly in the Forehead,” the poet wrote.

From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2022

“I just ran down the steps as much as I could but people was falling all over me, screaming,” said Sandra Clayton, 61, who was able to grope her way through the smoke.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 11, 2022

Angrier than ever, he proceeded to grope in the bottoms of the vases and baskets of dried flowers, but was not at all surprised that the locket was not there.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Partly that’s because most corporate media wouldn’t have carried Hedges’ denunciation of everything it gropes us for.

From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2019

He slams on the brakes, opens the door, gropes for his cane.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 10, 2018

He gropes for his water glass as if lifting heavy furniture.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 3, 2018

He endows his blighted characters with an instinctive gift for poetry that gropes for patterns in a random and unforgiving universe.

From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2016

Starry gropes after the material that's been yanked from her hands, but it falls out of reach and the whole quilt tumbles down the chute.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

The board groped its way through early decisions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026

A Loudoun County jury found former superintendent Scott Ziegler guilty of unlawfully discharging a teacher who reported being repeatedly groped by a student.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 29, 2023

Mr Johnson faced criticism for being too slow to suspend Mr Pincher from the parliamentary party, following allegations he had groped two men in a private members' club.

From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2022

While we groped for something solid to hold onto, they waited behind us, often with huge baskets of cargo balanced on their heads.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2022

He groped for it in the darkness and quickly pointed its beam at whatever was hovering above him.

From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke

She’s also spinning an intergenerational tale of Black women groping past their initial distrust to a deeper understanding of what they have in common.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

“You’re groping in the dark a little bit more.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

Such people are groping for answers and meaning.

From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2025

Mark Wood, in his first match since March because of injury and the weather, hurled a 95mph delivery that had Muhammad Rizwan groping at fresh air.

From BBC ● May 30, 2024

Mr Loomis, running in a groping kind of way, as if he could not see well, had not gone to the tent but to the trunk.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

Related Words

• cast about
• flounder