The Only Use of
grovel
in
A Raisin in the Sun
- (He straightens up and moves away from his mother, walking around the room) And maybe—maybe I'll just get down on my black knees ...(He does so; RUTH and BENNIE and MAMA watch him in frozen horror) "Captain, Mistuh, Bossman—(Groveling and grinning and wringing his hands in profoundly anguished imitation of the slowwitted movie stereotype) A-hee-hee-hee†
Scene 3.1groveling = showing submission or fear
Definition:
to show submission or fear -- sometimes by crawling or lying face down