grope+about

  • 1Grope — (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… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2grope — [v] feel about for cast about, examine, explore, feel blindly, finger*, fish*, flounder, fumble, grabble, handle, manipulate, poke, pry, root, scrabble, search, touch; concepts 34,216,612 …

    New thesaurus

  • 3grope — (v.) O.E. grapian to feel about (as one blind or in darkness), originally lay hold of, seize, touch, attain, related to gripan grasp at (see GRIPE (Cf. gripe)). Figurative sense is from early 14c. Indecent sense (marked as obsolete in OED) is… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4grope — ► VERB 1) feel about or search blindly or uncertainly with the hands. 2) informal feel or fondle (someone) for sexual pleasure, especially against their will. ► NOUN informal ▪ an act of groping someone. ORIGIN Old English, related to GRIPE(Cf.… …

    English terms dictionary

  • 5grope — [grōp] vi. groped, groping [ME gropien < OE grapian, to touch, seize, akin to Ger greifen, to grasp: for IE base see GRIPE] to feel or search about blindly, hesitantly, or uncertainly; feel one s way vt. 1. to seek or find (one s way) by… …

    English World dictionary

  • 6grope — verb (groped; groping) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English grāpian; akin to Old English grīpan to seize Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to feel about blindly or uncertainly in search < grope for the light switch > 2. to&#8230; …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 7grope — /grohp/, v., groped, groping, n. v.i. 1. to feel about with the hands; feel one s way: I had to grope around in the darkness before I found the light switch. 2. to search blindly or uncertainly: He seemed to be groping for an answer to the&#8230; …

    Universalium

  • 8grope — verb ADVERB ▪ blindly ▪ about (BrE), around, round (esp. BrE) PREPOSITION ▪ for ▪ She groped blin …

    Collocations dictionary

  • 9grope in the dark — Synonyms and related words: be benighted, be blind, be blind to, beat about, blink at, feel around, feel for, fumble, go blind, grabble, grope, grope for, labor in darkness, not see, poke around, pry around, scrabble, walk in darkness, wear&#8230; …

    Moby Thesaurus

  • 10grope — [[t]groʊp[/t]] v. groped, grop•ing, n. 1) to feel about with the hands; feel one s way hesitantly: to grope around in the darkness[/ex] 2) to search blindly or uncertainly: to be groping for an answer[/ex] 3) to seek by or as if by groping: to&#8230; …

    From formal English to slang