From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgrovelgrov‧el /ˈɡrɒvəl $ ˈɡrɑː-, ˈɡrʌ-/ verb (grovelled, grovelling British English, groveled, groveling American English) 1 FRIENDLY[intransitive] to praise someone a lot or behave with a lot of respect towards them because you think that they are important and will be able to help you in some way – used to show disapproval SYN crawlgrovel to I had to really grovel to the bank manager to get a loan.2 LIE DOWN[intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to move along the ground on your hands and knees I saw him grovelling in the road for his hat. —grovelling adjective a grovelling apology→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
grovel• If a police officer stops your car, be respectful to him, but don't grovel.• But even that failed to satisfy the council and, last week, a grovelling apology had to be broadcast.• If they want any patients, they must grovel before the family practitioners they previously lorded over.• Not that she would grovel either - devil take it, she'd keep some pride!• That dog grovels every time you shout.• I will not grovel for interviews.• The department is having to grovel for money again.• These are men who lead their daily lives with inflated pomp; they grovel for nothing.• So, what exactly is going on in the pesticide world to reduce me to such grovelling gratitude?• I looked back and saw him grovelling in the road for his hat.• There's nothing worse than seeing a man grovel just to keep his job.• No longer you have to grovel through the woods each spring in hopes of stumbling across a few of these delectable fungi.• I grovelled to my parents and promised I wouldn't do it again.Origin grovel (1800-1900) groveling “lying face downward” ((16-19 centuries)), from groof “on the face” ((14-19 centuries)), from Old Norse grufu 