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.
      [1913 Webster]

            To grope a little longer among the miseries and
            sensualities ot a worldly life.       --Buckminster.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

groping
    adj 1: acting with uncertainty or hesitance or lack of
           confidence; "a groping effort to understand"