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.