groove

1 of 2

noun

1
: a long narrow channel or depression
2
a
: a fixed routine : rut
b
: a situation suited to one's abilities or interests : niche
3
: top form
a great talker when he is in the groove
4
: the middle of the strike zone in baseball where a pitch is most easily hit
a fastball right in the groove
5
: an enjoyable or exciting experience
6
: a pronounced enjoyable rhythm

groove

2 of 2

verb

grooved; grooving

transitive verb

1
a
: to make a groove in
b
: to join by a groove
2
: to perfect by repeated practice
grooved her golf swing
3
: to throw (a pitch) in the groove

intransitive verb

1
: to become joined or fitted by a groove
2
: to form a groove
3
: to enjoy oneself intensely
4
: to interact harmoniously
contemporary minds and rock groove togetherBenjamin DeMott
groover noun

Examples of groove in a Sentence

Noun the grooves on a vinyl record The door slides along a groove in the doorframe. He's a great pitcher when he's in a groove. She hasn't yet found her groove. They've gotten stuck in a groove in their jobs. Verb We grooved to the beat. if you groove that piece of wood, we should be able to fit this smaller board into it
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Like Kerrigan, director Marc Bruni struggles with pacing during the first act, but gets into the groove by its second as reality steps in to ruin the group's revelry. EW.com, 26 Apr. 2024 As the jam unfolded, the quartet increasingly locked in, masterfully riding through peaks and grooves; after arriving in a krautrock-esque pocket, the band perfectly timed its return to the melodic reprise that ends the song. Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 25 Apr. 2024 Outsoles with deep grooves and grippy lugs are a good indicator of solid traction. Jessie Quinn, Peoplemag, 25 Apr. 2024 Game 3 is Friday night in Dallas and the hope is that Leonard will be able to find his groove after scoring 15 points on 7-for-17 shooting, 0-for-5 on three-pointers. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024 These bamboo cutting boards also feature juice grooves to prevent spillage. 5. Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024 The tongue scraper side has three different layers to really get into all the grooves of your tongue. Daley Quinn, Verywell Health, 1 Apr. 2024 That’s reflecting in his performance, with Tarasenko getting into a groove as the Panthers prepare for their final tune-up before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin this weekend. Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2024 The Legion, who haven’t lost a home match in two seasons at Snapdragon, have won four straight after an opening loss to rival Seattle and appear to be finding a groove while blending in a host of new additions with key returnees from last season’s 15-0-1 regular season finishing squad. Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2024
Verb
Stone then grooved a 95-mph fastball to Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who crushed a towering 429-foot three-run home run that bounced on top of the netting above the center-field pavilion. Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024 Webster tends to emphasize the music over vocals, grooving with her band and stretching tracks out for minutes at a time. Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 15 Mar. 2024 Join the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association and groove to your favorite tunes through wireless headphones, all while celebrating the luck of the Irish. Brittany Delay, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024 In typical fashion, though, the camera cut to perennial awards show dancer Taylor Swift, who was on her feet grooving to the song and mouthing its lyrics, and laughed in response Cyrus' quip. Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 5 Feb. 2024 The fresh cut is bursting with pop vitality, and, since the stroke of midnight, is accompanied with an official music video that follows Max on his travels from Los Angeles, CA to Seoul, South Korea where the pair get down to moving and grooving for the cameras. Lars Brandle, Billboard, 13 Mar. 2024 The video cuts between footage of Bacon and Sedgwick separately grooving down the same hallway (presumably in their family home), sporting white tank tops and jeans to emulate Bacon's character from the 1984 classic (with white Crocs for a slightly more modernized look). Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 7 Mar. 2024 Here's a list of fast and slow jams to groove to in the days leading up to Super Bowl 58. Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024 Soon, well over 1,000 dancers and spectators were grooving with Elzie. Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'groove.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English grove pit, cave, from Middle Dutch groeve; akin to Old High German gruoba pit, cave, Old English grafan to dig — more at grave entry 5

First Known Use

Noun

1659, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1686, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of groove was in 1659

Dictionary Entries Near groove

Cite this Entry

“Groove.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/groove. Accessed 2 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

groove

1 of 2 noun
1
: a long narrow channel made in a surface
2
: a fixed routine : rut
3
: top form

groove

2 of 2 verb
grooved; grooving
1
a
: to form a groove in
b
: to become grooved
2
: to enjoy very much

Medical Definition

groove

noun
: a long narrow depression occurring naturally on the surface of an organism or an anatomical part

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