1. To work interminably and without apparent progress. Often used transitively with "over" or "through". "The file scavenger has been groveling through the /usr directories for 10 minutes now." Compare grind and crunch. EmphATic form: "grovel obscenely". 2. To examine minutely or in complete detail. "The compiler grovels over the entire source program before beginning to translATe it." "I grovelled through all the documentATion, but I still couldn' t find the command I wanted." [Jargon File]