to bow and scrape
3
9.4
- idiom
- Archaic
:
humillar
- I'm tired of having to bow and scrape to meet their expectations.
- more bowing and scraping
Examples
-
No more bowing and scraping, my beloveds.
-
Then, in response to that powerlessness, the Democrats bowed and scraped, thinking that this was the way to ward off the apocalypse of the raging right.
Blog text (7) -
We'll have them bow and scrape for a change.
-
And quit all that bowing and scraping.
Fiction book (1998) -
You don't have to bow and scrape to me.
-
I'm sick and tired of bowing and scraping to the king.
-
To have people bow and scrape and beg for your favor... ah, there is no headier wine!
Blog text (27) -
Then you wouldn't have to bow and scrape for your bankers.
-
That was what peasants existed for—to bow and scrape for their betters.
Fiction book (2002) -
He felt like he had to bow and scrape just to keep his job.
Synonyms
127
6.3
To give in to another person's wishes or demands
90
7.0
To act too humbly to try to please someone
42
7.4
Behave like you are begging or crawling to get someone's forgiveness
30
3.7
Lower your head or body to show respect, often as a sign that you obey someone
12
9.2
To behave very obediently to please a person in power
10
7.4
To try to get someone to like you by praising them or being too helpful
9
8.2
To try hard to get praise or a promotion from someone like a boss
9
8.9
To show too much respect and obedience to someone in power
1
9.1
Flatter and obey someone in power to get their favor
1
8.4
To show loyalty and obey a powerful person
1
8.7
To praise or obey someone in power to get their support
1
9.9
To act too obediently to someone in power
1
3.9
Bend your upper body forward from the waist to show respect
Praise or act very friendly toward a boss to get something for yourself
To show too much respect and do what a person in power wants
Antonyms
How Submissive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituent 'bow' clearly denotes an act of deference and 'scrape' here has an archaic/rare sense of a low, exaggerated bow, so the phrase literally describes combined deferential gestures and thus relates to submissive behavior. However, the specific idiomatic sense 'behave in an excessively submissive or obsequious manner' depends on an uncommon or archaic meaning of 'scrape' and on cultural/pragmatic inference, so a B1 learner who only knows the common senses would likely not fully predict the idiomatic meaning without exposure.
Etymology
The phrase bow and scrape comes from old polite actions: to bow is to bend at the waist and to scrape was to drag a foot on the floor as a very humble greeting. So, doing both showed too much respect, and today the phrase means 'to be overly humble or to flatter someone to gain favor'.