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

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Etymology

Origin of grope

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

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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

You open your eyes and grope for your phone.

From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2024

Any extra light here is risky so we grope our way through the compound, following the heavily armed troops sent to escort us - stepping around makeshift tents, debris and sleeping people.

From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2023

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2023

“Here, everything is done in-house by FIFA. So it’s been a really long and arduous process. The terms have been incredibly difficult for cities to grope with.”

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 15, 2022

It must grope after him through the days and across the seas of the sunlit world, and could take visible shape only in dream and darkness.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

There’s some swing for Kumar, however, and Guptill is beaten later in the over when he gropes at a wider outswinger.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2019

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

The agency reeks of desperation as it gropes for some rationale for human spaceflight beyond the weirdly circular we-need-to-put-humans-in-space-to-study-what-happens-to-humans-when-we-put-them-in-space logic it's used for the past four decades.

From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2014

There’s a clatter as she gropes on the lamp table, then a click, and the television set runs through its warm-up.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

Andy Robertson gave it away in a hurry, Scotland lost the collision, Bruno Guimaraes dinked it to the back post, Gunn groped at air and Nathan Patterson lost Vini Jr. How could he miss him?

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

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

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

Moved by a sudden impulse he groped for a loose stone, and let it drop.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

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

The American people will be left groping in the dark.

From Salon ● Feb. 27, 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

I stared at him blankly, my mind groping for connections.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

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Related Words

• cast about
• flounder

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