grope, grape, graip, gropen, groop

i. & t. [A. S. grápian =to handle, to seize, from gráp =the grasp of the hands, the grip of the fingers, from grip an =to gripe; O. H. Ger. greifon; Icel. greifa.] A. Intransitive : 1. To feel with the hands. "Loke what ther is put in thin hond and grope." Chaucer: C. Т., 13, 164. 2. To use the hands; to handle. "If my fader groop and fele, by drede lest he wene me wiln to bigile hym."-Wycliffe: Genesis xxvii. 12. 3. To search or seek to find something in the dark; or, as a blind person, by feeling about with the hands; to feel one's way as with the hands. "We grope for the wall like the blind."- Isa . lix. 10. 4. To seek to find one's way through doubt or perplexity. "Groping no longer in night." Long fellow: Children of the Lord's Supper. *5. To seek to find anything. "As blindly groped they for a future state." Dryden: Religio Laici, 23. *6. To examine closely. IMG:content-0777.png:[blocks in formation] 2. To seek out by feeling with the hands in the dark or as a blind person; as, to grope one's way. *3. To try to discover or find out; to seek into; to try; to sound; to probe. "How vigilant to grope men's thoughts, and to pick out somewhat whereof they might complain." - Hayward. *4. To inquire into; to examine. "To grope tendurly a conscience." Chaucer: C. T., 7,399. grōp-ěr, s . [Eng. grop (e); -er.] One who gropes; one who tries to find his way by groping. "A groper after novelties, in any wise do flye." Drant: Horace ; Epistle to Lollius. grōp'-ing, pr. par., a. & s. [GROPE, v.] A. & B. As pr . par . & particip . adj .: (See the verb.) C. As subst.: The act or state of seeking one's way by feeling with the hands in the dark, or as a blind person. *groping-iron, *grupinge-yren, s. A tool for forming grooves. "The groping - iron then spake he."- MS . in Hall i well . grop-ing-ly, adv . [Eng. groping ; -ly.] In a groping manner; as one who gropes. grop-pīte, s. [From Gropp ( torp ), in Sweden, where it occurs, and suff. -ite ( Min.) (q. v.).] Min.: A rose-red or brownish-red crystalline mineral of splintery fracture: its hardne , 25; Specific gravity, 273. Composition: 45:01; alumina, 22:55; sesquioxide of iron, 3.06; magnesia, 12-28; lime, 4'55; soda, 022; pota a, 5.23; water, 7'11=100. Occurs in limestone. ( Dana . ) *grop-ple, v . i. [A frequent. from grope (q. v.).] To grope. "To gropple in the brook for crayfish." -T. Hughes: Tom Brown at Oxford , ch. xxx. grör-61-lite, subst. [From Groroi, in Mayenne, France, where it occurs, and Gr. lithos =stone.] Min.: A variety of Wad (Bog-manganese). The color is brownish-black, the streak reddish-brown. ( Dana .) grōs ( ilent), s. [Fr.=thick, strong.] [Gro , a.] Fabric: A heavy silk with a dull finish.