grovel

grovel vi.  1. To work interminably and without apparent
   progress.  Often used transitively with `over' or `through'.
   "The file scavenger has been groveling through the /usr
   directories for 10 minutes now."  Compare {grind} and
   {crunch}.  Emphatic form: `grovel obscenely'.  2. To examine
   minutely or in complete detail.  "The compiler grovels over the
   entire source program before beginning to translate it."  "I
   grovelled through all the documentation, but I still couldn't find
   the command I wanted."