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]