genuflect

Verb

genuflect (third-person singular simple present genuflects, present participle genuflecting, simple past and past participle genuflected)

1. (archaic, intransitive) To bend the knee, as in servitude.
2. (intransitive) To briefly enter a position that touches one knee to the ground in a manner that is typically associated with formal homage or religious worship.
   • At high Mass the deacon and subdeacon stand on either side, genuflect too, and answer.1913, Adrian Fortescue, Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Gospel in the Liturgy
   • First you get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries, / Bow your head with great respect, and / genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.1965, Tom Lehrer, The Vatican Rag
3. (figuratively, intransitive) To behave in a servile manner; to grovel.
   • Certainly, the megalomaniacs who aim to populate municipal fixtures with registered-trademark logos will expect cities to genuflect at every turn.2017 September 27, Julianne Tveten, “Zucktown, USA”, in The Baffler