genuflect

present singular third person genuflects · participle present genuflecting · participle past genuflected · past genuflected

1. archaicintransitiveTo bend the knee, as in servitude.
2. intransitiveTo 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

   2 more examples

   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

   She took the holy water on her fingertips and made the sign of the cross, fleetingly touched her wet fingertips to her parched lips. Candles flickered redly before the saints, the Christ on his cross. Kay genuflected before entering her row and then knelt on the hard wooden rail of the pew to wait for her call to Communion.

   circ. 1965, Mario Puzo, The Godfather

3. figurativelyintransitiveTo 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