Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: grapian

grope

1 verb
     
grope1
1 [intransitive ] to try to find something that you cannot see by feeling with your hands
grope for
Ginny groped for her glasses on the bedside table.
grope around
We groped around in the darkness.
2 [intransitive and transitive] to go somewhere by feeling the way with your hands because you cannot see
grope your way along/across etc
I was groping my way blindly through the trees.
Ally groped steadily towards the door.
3

grope for something

to try hard to find the right words to say or the right solution to a problem but without any real idea of how to do this:
She hesitated, seeming to grope for words.
4 [transitive] informal to move your hands over someone's body to get sexual pleasure, especially when they do not want you to do this
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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