groove

Meaning

Noun

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.
2. A fixed routine.
3. The middle of the strike zone in baseball where a pitch is most easily hit.
4. A pronounced, enjoyable rhythm.
5. (dated, informal) A good feeling (often as in the groove).
6. A shaft or excavation.
7. The optimal route around the track, or any of several such routes.

Verb

1. (transitive) To cut a groove or channel in; to form into channels or grooves; to furrow.
2. (intransitive) To perform, dance to, or enjoy rhythmic music.

Opposite of

ridge

Synonyms

furrow

rut

channel

slot

notch

flute

🪈

chamfer

fluting

trough

rifling

trench

dent

ditch

routine

nick

mortise

rabbet

gutter

indentation

chase

duct

hole

🕳️

cavity

wrinkle

indent

hollow

track

stripe

sulcus

canal

gouge

rout

bevel

stria

cleft

chisel

rifle

pass

manger

pit

vallecula

engrave

dig

character

cut

coulisse

incise

corrugation

calibre

arroyo

Translations

solco

sillon

groef

gleuf

Rille

rainure

sleuf

Rinne

ranura

Nut

cannelure

🪈

surco

scanalatura

incavo

cannelure

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡɹuːv/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: grov

Inherited from Old English: grōf

Cognate with Dutch: groef

Cognate with German: Grube

Cognate with Norwegian: grov

Cognate with Serbo-Croatian: grèbati

Cognate with Old English: grafan

In summary

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.