grovel

Word family

grov·el /ˈɡrɒvəl $ ˈɡrɑː-, ˈɡrʌ-/ verb (grovelled, grovelling British EnglishBrE, groveled, groveling American EnglishAmE)

1 FRIENDLY[intransitiveI] 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 〔因有求于人而〕卑躬屈膝〔含贬义〕 SYN crawl

grovel to

I had to really grovel to the bank manager to get a loan.

为了取得贷款，我只得向银行经理说了一大堆好话。

2 LIE DOWN[intransitiveI always + adverbadv/prepositionprep] to move along the ground on your hands and knees 爬行，匍匐

I saw him grovelling in the road for his hat.

我看到他趴在路上找帽子。

—grovelling adjectiveadj

a grovelling apology

低声下气的道歉

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