intransitive verb groveled -·eled or grovelled -·elled, groveling -·el·ing or grovelling -·el·ling

1. to lie prone or crawl in a prostrate position, esp. abjectly
2. to behave humbly or abjectly, as before authority; debase oneself in a servile fashion
3. to wallow in what is low or contemptible

Etymology: back-form. (first found in Shakespeare) < grovelling, down on one's face (assumed to be prp.) < ME grufelinge < gruf, for o grufe, on the face (< ON ā grūfu) + -ling, -ling