noun · verb · 14 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/ɡɹuːv/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/ɡɹuv/
rhymes with -uːv
CMU ARPABET:G R UW1 V
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A long, narrow channel or depression; e.g., such a slot cut into a hard material to provide a location for an engineering component, a tire groove, or a geological channel or depression.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: ridge
2
noun
Meaning 2
A fixed routine.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The middle of the strike zone in baseball where a pitch is most easily hit.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A pronounced, enjoyable rhythm.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A good feeling (often as in the groove).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A shaft or excavation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business, mining
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
The optimal route around the track, or any of several such routes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
From Middle English grov, grove, groof, grofe (“cave; pit; mining shaft”), probably from Old Norse gróf (“pit”) or from Middle Dutch groeve (“furrow, ditch”), both from Proto-West Germanic *grōbu, from Proto-Germanic *grōbō (“groove, furrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrebh- (“to dig, scrape, bury”). Cognate with Cimbrian gruuba (“gorge, ravine”), Dutch groef, groeve (“groove; pit, grave”), German Grube (“ditch, pit”), Luxembourgish Grouf (“pit, mine”), Mòcheno gruab (“mine”), Icelandic gróf (“pit, hollow”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐍉𐌱𐌰 (grōba, “foxhole”), Serbo-Croatian grèbati (“scratch, dig”). Related to Old English grafan (“to dig”). More at grave.
Across languages
Translations
135 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
жлеб
(žleb)
— long, narrow channel
Bulgarian:
канал
(kanal)
— long, narrow channel
Catalan:
solc
— long, narrow channel
Catalan:
galze
— long, narrow channel
Catalan:
ranura
— long, narrow channel
Czech:
rýha
— long, narrow channel
Czech:
žlábek
— long, narrow channel
Czech:
zářez
— long, narrow channel
Czech:
drážka
— long, narrow channel
Dutch:
inkerving
— long, narrow channel
Esperanto:
sulko
— long, narrow channel
Esperanto:
kanalo
— long, narrow channel
Finnish:
ura
— long, narrow channel
Finnish:
uurre
— long, narrow channel
French:
rainure
— long, narrow channel
French:
sillon
— long, narrow channel
Galician:
groba
— long, narrow channel
Georgian:
ღარი
(ɣari)
— long, narrow channel
German:
Rille
— long, narrow channel
German:
Nut
— long, narrow channel
Greek:
αυλάκωση
(avlákosi)
— long, narrow channel
Ancient Greek:
χολέδρα
(kholédra)
— long, narrow channel
