Definition of "grovel" []

• To behave in a servile or demeaning manner; cringe. (verb-intransitive)
• To lie or creep in a prostrate position, as in subservience or humility. (verb-intransitive)
• To give oneself over to base pleasures: "Have we not groveled here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?” ( Walt Whitman). (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "If the rulers of other countries want to grovel, that is their privilege, but I don't want my country groveling before anyone."
• "The fact is he doesn't have to 'grovel' to anyone."
• "Sunday, Oct. 29, 2006 @ 6: 26 p.m. Hmmm, I haven't seen Not-Green-Eyed-Guy since he contacted me to "grovel"."