grovel
[verb]
Synonyms: humble oneself, abase oneself, bow and scrape, crawl, creep, cringe, demean oneself, fawn, kowtow, toady

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Related Idioms: lick the dust (or one's boots)

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

grov‧el /ˈɡrɒvəl $ ˈɡrɑː-, ˈɡrʌ-/ verb (past tense and past participle grovelled, present participle grovelling British English, groveled, groveling American English)
[Date: 1800-1900; Origin: groveling 'lying face downward' (16-19 centuries), from groof 'on the face' (14-19 centuries), from Old Norse grufu]

1. [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 Synonym : crawl
grovel to
I had to really grovel to the bank manager to get a loan.

2. [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

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲