Grope
/ɡroʊp/noun
To feel around with the hands, especially in the dark or without clear direction.
Did you know?The oldest sense of *grope* is literally to feel blindly or search by touch, with no occult origin — but its eerie power comes from how often darkness and uncertainty shape the word’s history.
Etymological Timeline
Middle English
ME
gropen
“to feel about or search by touch, often blindly”
Old English
OE
grāpian
“to feel, seize, or handle”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*grapōną
“to grasp, seize, or feel for”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ghrebʰ-
“to seize, grasp, or take hold of”
Modern English
EN
grope
“to feel around uncertainly with the hands, or to search awkwardly”