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]