reach out and feel with the hands for something you cannot see, grope

Fey 1986

to touch at random (as a cat’s belly, a woman’s breast); to grope for something in a bag, pocket

Li and Tsuchida 2006

grope for in the dark, feel for in the dark, fumble

Mintz and Britanico 1985

to grope with the hands (as in the dark, or for snails in a muddy river)

Headland and Headland 1974

grope for something; search a body for something; struggle to obtain something; sneak into a house with the intention of having intercourse with a girl

Wolff 1972

to grope, feel for something with the hands without light and without seeing (as in a dark room, in one’s pockets for money, in walking along in the dark; this word has decided sexual connotations without proper context, since the word is used of intimate caressing; method of fishing and gathering shrimp and crabs , i.e. use of the bare hands

Ballard 2011

to grope for words

Ballard 2011

to grope in the dark

Rubino 2000, Carro 1956

to frisk

Rubino 2000, Carro 1956

groping about, feeling about with the hands

Southwell 1980

grope in the dark

Galvin 1967

to grope, feel blindly

Blust n.d. (1971)

groping, feeling one's way

Wilkinson 1959

to feel, touch with the palm of the hand

Benton 1971

grope, feel one’s way along in walking

Long Labid

to touch, feel, finger; also to have sexual relations with a woman

van der Veen 1940

feeling or frisking (the pockets)

Panganiban 1966

grope for a woman in the dark (for illicit sexual intercourse)

Hassan, Ashley and Ashley 1994