to grope
- verb
- /ɡroʊp/
- The fog froze their bones as they groped their way up the mountain.
And here we get into issue solving where psychiatrists still are groping, groping in the dark.
- And here we get into issue solving where psychiatrists still are groping, groping in the dark.
- We are all born blind and deaf to much of nature's language, and it takes persistent groping and guessing to learn something of it.
- But then when you put the blindfold on, she just left and you ended up groping around an empty room and knocking over a lamp.
Examples
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Overcome with exhaustion, he groped for a place to sit down.
Fiction book (1991) -
Mist pooled on the rocky floor, and they groped their way ahead uncertainly.
Fiction book (1992) -
This flat skinny ribbon is harder to grope around for.
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What are you groping for?
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We're groping in the dark--
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Darkness swarms around us, and we grope like the blind.
-
In that instant, she broke away, groping for the metal rod.
Fiction book (1992) -
I rolled onto my hands and knees and groped feebly for the edge of the table.
Fiction book (1991) -
With one hand holding the dark coverlet around her, she groped for the doorknob.
Fiction book (1991) -
In the dark room, I had to grope along the wall to find the light switch.
Synonyms
To use your hands to find something when you cannot see it
To move your hands clumsily while trying to find something
Touch things with your hands to find something, often when it is dark
To feel with your hands to find something in the dark
To feel around with your hands to find something
To feel around with your hands to find something in the dark
Phrasal Verbs
How Thorough
Surface Forms
Etymology
Grope comes from an old English word grāpian meaning 'to feel' or 'to seize', and it is like the familiar words grasp and grab. So, to grope is to reach and feel around with your hands, often when you cannot see.