1.
1.
[syn: grope, fumble]
2. search blindly or uncertainly;
- Example: "His mind groped to make the connection"
3. fondle for sexual pleasure;
- Example: "He made some sexual advances at the woman in his office and groped her repeatedly"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Grope \Grope\, v. t.
1. To search out by feeling in the dark; as, we groped our
way at midnight.
[1913 Webster]
2. To examine; to test; to sound. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Felix gropeth him, thinking to have a bribe.
--Genevan
Test. (Acts
xxiv. ).
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Grope \Grope\ (gr[=o]p), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Groped
(gr[=o]pt); p. pr. & vb. n. Groping.] [OE. gropen, gropien,
grapien, AS. gr[=a]pian to touch, grope, fr. gr[imac]pan to
gripe. See Gripe.]
1. To feel with or use the hands; to handle. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
2. To search or attempt to find something in the dark, or, as
a blind person, by feeling; to move about hesitatingly, as
in darkness or obscurity; to feel one's way, as with the
hands, when one can not see.
[1913 Webster]
We grope for the wall like the blind. --Is. lix. 10.
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To grope a little longer among the miseries and
sensualities ot a worldly life. --Buckminster.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
grope
n 1: the act of groping; and instance of groping
v 1: feel about uncertainly or blindly; "She groped for her
glasses in the darkness of the bedroom" [syn: grope,
fumble]
2: search blindly or uncertainly; "His mind groped to make the
connection"
3: fondle for sexual pleasure; "He made some sexual advances at
the woman in his office and groped her repeatedly"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
32 Moby Thesaurus words for "grope":
agonize over, be at sea, be uncertain, beat about, doubt, examine,
explore, feel, feel around, feel for, feel unsure, fish, flounder,
fumble, grabble, grope for, poke, poke around, probe, prod, pry,
pry around, puzzle over, question, quick look, root, scrabble,
search, tentative examination, thrash about, wonder,
wonder whether